E kala mai ia'u
by Fifilla
Summary: Steve McGarrett learned long ago that if you get someone shot, you apologize. But what if it was yourself who pulled the trigger?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**  
>Unfortunately I don't own anything of Hawaii Five-0, it all belongs to CBS. But I wouldn't mind at all to share my couch with the Five-0 team – feel free to come around whenever you like ;-)<p>

**Notes:**  
>"E kala mai ia'u" means (at least according to my internet research) "I'm sorry".<br>English is not my native language, so please forgive me my mistakes.

**Thanks:**  
>A great big thank-you to the wonderful <strong>montez<strong> for betaing – thank you so much for all the time and effort you have put into my story, you are truly amazing!  
>Oh, and not to forget special thanks to Keanu Reeves for the "speedy" plot bunny ;-)<p>

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><p><strong>E kala mai ia'u<br>**(I'm sorry)**  
><strong>

_An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything.  
>Lynn Johnston<em>

"Drop the knife!"

Steve shouted, pointing his gun at one of the two men who stood on the other side of the room. "Drop the knife and let him go! Now!"

"I don't think so, Commander." A malicious smile crept across Hank Philips' face as he pressed the butterfly knife tighter against the other man's throat. Slowly raising his right hand Philips held up a small black device, his thumb firmly pinched on one of the buttons. "I guess you're familiar with C4 explosive?" He didn't wait for Steve to answer, "Well, you see, I have enough of this stuff on me to not only blow up the people in this room but the whole building as well. All I have to do is let go of this little button and," he made a small gesture with his right hand, "boom! Is it that what you want?" The smile on his lips grew bigger and he nodded a few times when he saw the look on Steve's face. "That's what I thought. So I think that you will be the one who will drop his weapon and step back."

Danny looked at Steve but didn't dare move, he could feel the cold sharp metal against his throat and he had absolutely no intention of making better acquaintance with it. He saw Steve's gaze travel over him and the expression on McGarrett's face told him that his partner was barely able to fight back the anger that was welling up inside of him. Danny supposed that he wouldn't win any beauty contest right now either with a heavily swollen eye and the nasty bruises on the left side of his face. He carefully licked his lips and sighed quietly when he tasted fresh blood. His split lip had started bleeding again; a fact that obviously didn't help to calm down his partner.

Steve narrowed his eyes, shifting his gaze to the device in Philips' hand. Danny could almost see the wheels turning as Steve's mind was no doubt running through all the possibilities and Danny wasn't sure if he really wanted to know which crazy option Steve would settle on in the end. With a partner like his it always seemed to be the choice between bad and worse. Danny himself had pictured every possible scenario he could think of since Hank Philips had taken him hostage and to be honest he couldn't see any safe way out. Philips had proven that he was not only completely crazy but also dangerous, after all he had already killed two innocent people in cold blood. Danny knew that one false move could mean the end and he prayed that Steve wouldn't try anything stupid.

"Drop your weapon and let me go!" Hank's voice was clear and cold. He made a few steps back toward the door and Danny was forced to follow, the knife still too close to his jugular for his liking.

Steve didn't try to follow but he hadn't lowered his gun yet either. Danny watched as his partner slowly blinked once, the look in his eyes changing drastically. Danny had seen this special look a few times before as a cold shiver ran down his spine. He was not sure where that thought came from but suddenly he just knew what was going to happen.

"Nononono, Steve! Hell, no! Steven, don't you dare to do this!" He said raspy, there were so many undertones in his voice that even Danny himself didn't know which one was dominant, yet in that moment he felt both anger and astonishment, but most of all he was scared. He was scared because the look in McGarrett's eyes told him it was too late, his partner had made a decision and he could do absolutely nothing to stop him. He took a deep breath, at least as far as the knife at his throat allowed, feeling a slight burn when the blade cut into his skin. Danny tried feverishly to prepare himself for the inevitable.

But how do you prepare yourself for being shot at?

Or to be more precise: how do you prepare yourself for being shot at by your best friend?

Danny took another deep breath, not caring that a few more drops of blood trickled down his neck, as he looked up to catch Steve's eye. If Danny's voice was full of emotions that was nothing compared to what Steve's eyes were revealing. Danny could see grim determination however he could also clearly see remorse and guilt… but more than anything he saw fear.

Danny knew that time was running out. They had almost reached the door and there was no way that Hank Philips would allow him to stay alive once they had left the building. After a third and final deep breath, Danny locked eyes with his partner and slowly blinked once.

There was a loud bang and Danny's whole world exploded into pain.

**(tbc)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer and notes:  
><strong>see chapter 1

**Thanks:**  
>Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!<br>Again a huge thank-you to **montez** for betaing, you are the best! :-)

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><p><em>3 hours earlier…<em>

"Now I know…" Danny smirked, throwing a knowing look at his partner while he opened one of the big glass doors that lead into Five-0 headquarters, letting Steve go ahead.

Entering the office Steve turned toward Danny, rolling his eyes and asking good-humoredly, "You know what, Danno?"

Danny narrowed his eyes at the sound of his nickname but decided that now was not the time to respond to that bait. "Now I know why you've been smiling like a drunken rabbit ever since I picked you up… _Steven_." Danny's grin growing bigger as he put some extra emphasis on the last word.

Steve frowned, asking himself if he really wanted to know what a drunken rabbit might look like and how in heaven's name Danny would know such a thing. Raising his hand to cover his mouth, Steve tried to stifle a yawn. Danny smiled when that gesture confirmed his speculation, "Long night?" Patting Steve on the shoulder while they moved further into the room, then putting on his most innocent look, Danny asked, "So, how long will Catherine stay this time?"

"What?" Steve asked baffled.

"Oh, I'm just asking because I'm rationally concerned that when you're not getting enough sleep you might be even more dangerous for my well-being than at normal times."

"What makes you actually think that Cath is in town?" Steve was not willing to admit that he indeed had spent the night with her, though the thought brought a smile back to his face as he turned around hearing Danny chuckle.

"Remember the drunken rabbit smile?" Danny replied knowingly, looking up at Steve.

Embarrassingly he felt himself blushing a little bit, all the while trying to avoid Danny's inquiring gaze. Steve looked around, noticing Kono leave her office. "Morning guys," she waved, crossing the room to join her teammates who were standing next to the big computer table. Kono studied the two men in front of her, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly when she noticed that one of their famous banters was obviously in full swing. "What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing, we're just talking about McGarrett's love life." Danny said with a little nod of his head, giving her a mischievous wink.

"No, we are not!"

Steve tried to interject but Kono continued, "Oh yeah, I've seen the Enterprise is docked in Pearl Harbor. How is Catherine?"

"See, that's one clever girl," Danny said proudly before Steve could answer. "She didn't even need to see your drunken rabbit face to know what's going on."

Steve stared at them speechless for a moment. He'd just opened his mouth to deny that he had a face when Chin joined the group. "Drunken rabbit face? Did I miss something?" He looked around and after having seen Steve's expression he added good-naturedly, "Okay, I won't comment on that, but I guess it has something to do with that huge US Navy ship down at the harbor and the rumors that it needs some repairs that will take at least six weeks. Am I about right?"

"Six weeks?" Looking at Steve, Danny sighed theatrically. "How long can you last without sleep? You've been trained for that, right?" Throwing his hands in the air, he added, "Never mind, I bet you will get me shot anyway in less than a week."

"What are you talking about? I won't get you shot…" Steve said with an exasperated shake of his head.

"Aha! But you no longer deny that your pretty Lieutenant is here?" Danny asked confident of victory.

Steve couldn't help but grin sheepishly. "What can I say…" he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Obviously you are a better detective than I thought."

Chin and Kono looked at each other, smiling brightly in anticipation of one of Danny's famous rants and indeed they didn't have to wait long. "Excuse me?" Danny furrowed his brow. "A better detective than you thought? What the hell does that even mean, Steven? Actually I'm a damn good detective." He emphasized every word with an expansive gesture. "Did I tell you that I was…"

Chin's mobile rang, still smiling he fished the phone out of his pocket, listening with one ear to the ongoing banter between his teammates he took the call. "Kelly?" Chin answered and after a few moments the smile disappeared and his face became more serious the longer he listened. "When?" His voice had lost all the joyfulness from before and the others grew quiet as soon as they noticed the change. "How many?"

Steve threw him a scrutinizing look, mouthing silently, "What's wrong?"

Chin listened for a few more seconds before he covered the phone with one hand and explained quickly, "It's HPD, bomb threat at a school. Over 50 persons trapped inside the building, children as well as some teachers and parents."

Shaking her head, Kono asked perplexed, "What are they doing there? It's a holiday, isn't it?"

"Which school?" Danny chimed in breathlessly.

Chin nodded once to demonstrate that he had heard, passing on Danny's question, he listened to the reply before answering, "Academy of the Sacred Hearts."

"Isn't that Grace's school?" Kono asked with a side glance at Danny who was suddenly swaying slightly. All blood had left his face as he grabbed the edge of the table when his legs started to give away.

"Whoa, Danny?" Steve firmly grabbed Danny's elbow to give him some much needed support, "Hey, what's wrong? You okay?"

"Grace," Danny whispered, looking up to meet Steve's gaze. McGarrett could see pure agony in Danny's eyes and he was sure that his own heart stopped for a second hearing Danny's next words. "Grace… she… her class was supposed to be in school today. They're rehearsing a play for the school party next week."

"What?" Steve's voice cracked slightly.

"Oh my God!" Kono raised her hand to her mouth, horrified by the thought that anything might have happened to Danny's daughter.

"I need to call Rachel." With shaking fingers Danny took his mobile out of his pocket and dialed her number. It took three tries before he finally managed to hit the right buttons. Pressing the phone to his ear with his left hand, he ran his other hand through his hair over and over again. Impatiently he waited for his ex-wife to pick up. "Come on…" Deep wrinkles were visible on his forehead as he nervously bit his lips.

After what seemed like an eternity, not only to Danny but to everyone else in the room, the ringing stopped and Danny almost dropped the phone when a small voice answered, _"Hello?"_

"Grace? Oh thank God…" He cleared his throat, drawing in a shuddering breath. "Gracie, why are you at home?"

"_I'm sick,"_ Danny could hear that Grace's voice was hoarse and she coughed weakly. _"Mommy wouldn't let me go to school today."_ She sniffed twice, _"Danno, I won't be good next week when I miss all the rehearsals."_

"Hey Monkey, don't be sad. I'm sure you will be great." Danny took a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves. "I promise to practice with you this weekend, okay?"

"_Okay,"_ Grace replied, sniffing and coughing once more.

"Now you go back to bed and get well soon!" Danny said, his voice still heavy with emotions. "Can you put Mommy on the phone?"

"_She's right here,"_ Grace said. _"Bye, Danno!"_

"Bye Monkey, Danno loves you."

"_Love you too,"_ Grace replied with a final cough. There were a few seconds of silence before another voice reached Danny's ears. _"Daniel?" _Rachel asked._ "What's wrong?"_

Turning around, Danny leaned heavily against the computer table, he noticed that Chin was still on the phone with HPD while Steve and Kono quietly discussed the situation. Every few seconds Steve's worried gaze drifted to his partner until Danny nodded letting him know that everything was alright. Almost instantly Steve relaxed and Danny smiled slightly. He winced when he heard his ex-wife impatiently calling to him, _"Daniel? Are you still there? I'm waiting!"_

Pulling himself together, Danny spent the next few minutes explaining the situation and calming Rachel, who was as terrified as Danny at the thought that their daughter had almost been in a bomb situation and that all of her friends were still trapped inside the school building. "Rachel, calm down! Grace is safe and we will do everything in our power to save the other children." Danny had regained his composure, his voice was strong and confident. "Just stay with Grace, I'll call you when we have news." He ended the call and turned toward his colleagues just in time to see Chin stowing his phone away.

"So, what do we have?" Steve was the first to ask the question that everyone had on their mind.

Chin's fingers danced over the display of the table. After a few more clicks and sweeps he answered, "HPD has already sent what they know so far." He pointed at the screens on the wall where the picture of a friendly looking, middle-aged man with short grayish hair and metal-rimmed glasses had popped up. "This is Hank Philips, 52, born and raised here on the Islands. He successfully runs his own little electric shop, no police records, not even a parking ticket." Turning around, Chin faced his three teammates and inhaled deeply. "At the moment he has taken 32 children, 3 teachers and 18 parents hostage inside the building of Sacred Hearts Academy. He has explosive devices planted in different sectors of the building. HPD knows where exactly they are and how many, but at the moment it's unclear what type of explosives we're talking about."

Kono stared at her cousin, "How do they know so much already?"

"Good question, couz. That's the weirdest part of this whole situation." Chin nodded, waiting until he was sure that everyone was listening closely. "It was Hank Philips himself who called HPD from inside the school building. He told them everything about the bombs, the hostage-taking and about himself."

"Okay, that doesn't make sense," Steve interrupted. "Why would he plant bombs everywhere in the building and then telling the police exactly where the devices are? This has to be some sort of trap or distraction… Has he made any demands so far?"

Chin shook his head, "Not yet. That's all we have at the moment."

"I think we should concentrate on the hostages." Kono said, already starting to browse some files. "Perhaps Hank Philips has targeted someone specific?"

"Good approach – check all the children as well as their parents and the teachers. Perhaps we can find a connection somewhere." Steve replied and turned around to look at Danny. "It's Grace's class… you don't know him by any chance, do you?"

"Never seen him before," Danny negated. Studying the picture on the screen, he asked, "What else do we know about him? Does he have family? What about friends? Colleagues?"

"Just a second…" Once again Danny was impressed by the efficiency with which Chin handled the computer. "Here it is." With another flick of his wrist he displayed a file on the screen. "This is all the personal information we have on Hank Philips."

Danny, Steve and Chin stared at the display, skimming over the dates. "He is married, three grown-up kids," Danny mumbled but Chin chipped in, pointing at the screen.

"Look at this date, looks like he is divorced."

Danny squinted and said slowly, "Have you noticed the date? The divorce was exactly 20 years ago; do you think this is coincidence?"

"What do we know about his wife and children? Are they living on the Islands?" Steve asked but Chin already had pulled up the information.

"Apparently they left Hawaii immediately after the divorce, I can't find any evidence that they have ever been back since." He scrolled slowly through the data, "Oh, look at this – the youngest daughter died two month ago in a car accident."

"Okay, it's just a gut instinct but I'm pretty sure that this is definitely not a coincidence." Danny said, Steve nodding slowly.

Chin's mobile rang and after a quick look at the display he said, "It's HPD again, I'll put it on speaker." He laid the phone on the table so that everyone could hear what was going on before he pressed two buttons and took the call, "Kelly?"

"_Chin? It's Duke. We got news from Hank Philips."_ Sergeant Duke Lukela's voice sounded rushed and they could hear lots of busy activity in the background.

"Hey Duke, you are on speakers, go ahead," Chin replied.

"_He just called again, announcing his demands. He promised to set free all the children in exchange for their parents. He already let the three teachers go as a sign of his goodwill."_

Steve turned to Kono, saying quietly, "Forget about the children and only check the parents. There has to be a connection somewhere." Raising his voice, Steve asked, "But there are already 18 of the parents in the building, right?"

"_That's correct. One of the teachers brought a list with the names of all the other parents. As soon as they are inside, the children will be allowed to go. He said we have one hour to gather them."_

"Do we believe him that he will let the children go once he has their parents?" Kono asked. "I mean, we have no proof that he will stick to his word."

"And normally we don't negotiate with hostage-takers, do we?" Chin added gravely.

"_There's something else…"_ They could hear Duke's heavy breaths over the phone. _"It's about Detective Williams…"_

"My name is on that list, isn't it?" Danny asked calmly.

Duke hesitated, _"Yes, it is. I'm sorry… your daughter…is she…"_

"It's okay!" Danny interrupted him. "My daughter is at home with the flu – I'd never thought that I would ever be happy about the fact that she's sick."

"_Oh, thank God, at least some good news."_ Danny was deeply touched by the open sympathy he could hear in Duke's voice.

"Okay, we have less than one hour to think about a solution," Steve said. "Don't take any action until we're there. Keep us updated if there are any changes in the meantime!"

"_Understood,"_ Duke replied and ended the call.

Steve looked around, "Any ideas?"

"I'm going in," Danny announced immediately.

"Are you crazy? You are not going in there!" Steve looked at Danny dumbfounded.

"Listen Steve, I know it's dangerous, but my name is on that list. Perhaps Hank Philips doesn't know that Grace is not among the children. This will give us the chance to figure out what he really wants. And perhaps I can persuade him to give up or at least to set the children free."

"But you wouldn't have a weapon. No weapon, no vest, no back-up. You would be totally unprotected." Steve frowned angrily seeing the wry smile on Danny's face. "What is so damn funny?"

"Since when do you care for back-up?" Danny asked ironically but he became serious very quickly. Running his hand through his hair he sighed, "I know I won't have back-up and believe me, unlike you, I don't draw some insane satisfaction from such a Rambo-like situation but it is our best chance."

"I don't like it either, but I think Danny's right, brah," Chin said gravely.

Steve shook his head, "I don't think it's a good idea, it's too dangerous. We don't know what Philips is up to and…"

Danny interrupted him with a sharp movement of his hands. "Okay Steve, that's enough, we don't have time for this. I've made my decision; I will go in – end of discussion!"

Kono furrowed her brow, "I think we can wire you invisibly so that no one would notice. That would give us a chance to hear everything that's going on. And we could communicate… or at least you would be able to hear us even if you can't speak freely."

Danny gave her a grateful nod, "That would be great, thanks."

"Okay, I'll go and get everything." She turned on her heels, rushing toward the storage room to gather all the electronic equipment they would need.

"I still don't like the idea that you will be totally on your own once you're in the building!" Steve threw a look at Danny but noticed frustratedly that his partner was already busy listening to Chin's explanations about how they planned to wire him. "Hey, is anybody listening to what I'm saying?"

Rolling his eyes, Danny said firmly, "Yes Steven, we have all heard you." His voice became a little more gently as he continued, "Your concern is duly noted, but believe it or not, I've handled quite a few hostage situations before I met you. So, unless you have a better idea the plan is fixed – I will go in."

**(tbc)**


	3. Chapter 3

Forty minutes later Danny stood in front of his daughter's school and slowly climbed the stairs to the entrance door. His arms spread slightly, he avoided any hasty movement to make it clear that he didn't pose a threat. He had to admit that he felt naked without his weapon and badge, but most of all he missed the comforting weight of his Kevlar vest. The wires on his chest itched slightly but then again he appreciated the feeling; after all they were the only contact to his team, giving him the slim assurance that everything would be fine in the end.

Danny reached the top of the stairs and was standing directly in front of the entrance door. Taking a deep breath, he carefully laid his hand on the knob and pulled the door open. Feeling Steve's eyes on his back, he turned around to let his gaze travel across the crowd of people and squad cars until he found the tall figure of his partner. They locked eyes for a moment as Danny smiled slightly before finally slipping into the building.

His breath caught when his gaze fell on an explosive device attached to the doorframe, but Danny had no time to take a closer look or think about it as a strong voice came out of the first room to his left. "Come in here, slow and carefully. No hasty movements and let me see your hands."

Doing what he was told, Danny cautiously entered the room. It was a normal classroom just like any other room in the building, except that all of the tables and chairs were piled up against one wall. All the blinds were lowered and Hank Philips was standing as far away from the windows as possible; behind him on the floor were two large traveling bags. He was wearing a heavy jacket and Danny wondered how he could stand the heat in such a piece of clothing. Philips held some sheets of paper and a weapon in his hand, probably a SIG Sauer P228 if Danny would have to guess.

Swiftly looking around, Danny quickly assessed the situation and the condition of the hostages. The children and their parents were sitting on the floor, most of the adults had put their arms around one or more children, offering comfort and protection not only to their own child but also to their friends whose parents weren't here with them. They all looked scared but obviously no one was injured; two or three of the girls were crying silently but altogether the situation seemed to be under control.

Recognizing some familiar faces, Danny quickly smiled and winked at Kylie, one of Grace's best friends. Kylie's face lit up for a second before she snuggled back into her mother's lap. Danny couldn't help the small shiver that ran down his spine at the thought that only fate had prevented Grace and Rachel from being here today.

Once more he took in the sight of the people in front of him, quickly counting their number. He frowned slightly but had no time to count again when Hank Philips raised his voice. "Would you mind telling me your name?" he asked politely, a little smile playing around his lips.

Danny cleared his throat before he answered. "Danny Williams," he said, unaware of the reaction his answer would cause.

Hank's eyes grew wide as he looked at Danny for a long moment. "Ah," he finally said as his smile brightened. Waving the papers in his hands, he asked, "It's Detective Williams, isn't it? I wondered if you would show up sooner or later."

_Shit, that's not good!_ Danny thought, the bad feeling increasing as he heard Steve's worried voice over his hopefully well-hidden earpiece.

"_How does he know that you are a detective? Damn, I knew that was a bad idea to let you go in alone."_

"So, why did you come, detective? As far as I am aware your daughter isn't here today, is she?" The smile had left his face and Philip's voice was suddenly cold and sharp. "And don't lie to me, I'm not stupid!"

Slowly raising his hands in a defensive gesture, Danny said calmly, "I'm here to talk to you. No need to get angry, okay? You are right, my daughter isn't here today, but all of her friends are." He carefully pointed at the children, always bearing in mind not to make any hasty movements that could possibly alarm the other man. "Why don't you allow the children to go now that I'm here?"

Hank asked quietly, narrowing his eyes, "So, I guess the other parents won't come?" He looked at Danny and after a while he pursed his lips pensively. "That's what I thought – but it doesn't matter, I think I already have everyone I was looking for." He slowly nodded in satisfaction as he browsed the papers in his hands.

Danny's earpiece crackled slightly and once again he could hear Steve's voice, the worry now even more evident than before. _"What does he mean he has everyone he was looking for? Danny, is everything alright?"_

"Hank?" Danny spoke not only to the man in front of him but also to his team outside the building. They had worked out a simple code earlier and by using Hank's first name Danny told them that everything was alright at the moment. "Hank, just let the children go, okay? You don't need them; you still have me and the other parents. Please, let them go."

Hank Philips took his time to consider the request and Danny needed all his willpower to keep his mouth shut while he waited impatiently for an answer. After almost two minutes of silence, only disturbed by the muted sobs of one of the girls, Philips finally said, "Alright, Detective. The children can go."

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><p>"<em>The children are all here. Good job, Danny!"<em> Steve's voice held the same amount of emotion that Danny was feeling, he breathed a sigh of relief; the first part of his mission had been successful. It had been a tearful parting on both sides, the children had been reluctant to leave their parents and it had been hard for the adults to let their little ones go, even if they knew it was the best for them. But after a few minutes of bidding farewell all the children had left the building just as Hank Philips had promised.

Without the occasional sobs of the girls it was now unnaturally silent in the classroom and Danny couldn't help the bad feeling that was welling up inside him. Letting his gaze travel over the other people in the room, he once more counted their number. He squinted his eyes as he counted again. Shouldn't there be 18 parents? The uneasiness increased, something was not right, he was suddenly very sure of that.

Trying to swallow past the lump that had formed in his throat, Danny said. "Now, Hank, why don't you tell me what you want. Why are you doing all this?" He wondered shortly how his voice still sounded calm and considerate. Danny hesitated briefly before he added gently, "Is this about your family? About your daughter?"

Hank's whole posture became rigid and Danny saw his hands start to tremble slightly. But after a few seconds Philips clenched his fist around his weapon, the papers in his other hand rustled as he crumpled them forcefully. Lifting his eyes, he stared at Danny for a moment before he whispered hoarsely, "What do you know about my daughter?"

"I know that she died in an accident not long ago, and I'm really sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose a child." Danny's heart beat painfully in his chest, if only the thought of losing Grace caused so much pain, he really couldn't imagine what Hank Philips must feel.

Hank's eyes rested on Danny though Danny could tell that Philips probably didn't see him at all. His gaze was numb and glassy as he seemed to be caught in some mournful reverie. For the blink of an eye Danny saw his chance to overwhelm the older man and he tensed, ready to snatch the weapon from Hank's hand.

But before he could even move a muscle the moment was gone when Philips shook his head slightly; Danny almost shivered from the sudden adrenaline rush in his blood. "No more talking right now, detective!" Hank said nonchalantly, taking a step back from Danny.

Philips flattened the sheets of paper in his hand and Danny could see that it was a list of names and addresses. Noticing Danny's look, Hank smiled wryly and said, "Computers are one of the best inventions of our time, don't you think? Everything you need is just a few clicks away." Browsing the list for a specific name, he read out, "Grace Williams. Parents Rachel Edwards, homemaker…" Danny snorted inwardly when he thought of all the people that Rachel and Stan hired to keep their house and garden neat and clean. "… remarried to Stan Edwards, real estate broker, and Daniel Williams, police detective, special task force 'Hawaii Five-0'."

"_That's how he knows who you are. Shit, that's not good, Danny!"_ Steve's tone didn't help to decrease Danny's own bad feeling and for the first time he wished that he didn't have that damn earpiece. It was really difficult to concentrate with Steve's voice in his head, he barely suppressed a sigh when his partner continued. _"Listen, Danny. The kids said Philips has a gun but they didn't see any other weapon. Just cough once if you can confirm that."_

Danny cleared his throat and coughed once before he said, "Okay, great, so you know everything about us." He nodded toward the other parents in the room. "Now what?"

"I said no more talking!" Hank narrowed his eyes. "Let me show you something. But first I think I need someone else…" With another look at his list Philips looked at the waiting people and asked, "Miranda Lombardi?" His eyes came to rest on a petite, blonde woman who earlier had her arms wrapped protectively around two girls. "That's you, isn't it?" The woman swallowed heavily, but didn't answer the question.

"Miranda?" Hank said impatiently as he stretched out his hand toward her. "I know that's your name so would you join us, please?"

Danny looked at the young woman, he remembered her from one of the parent evenings he had visited but he didn't know anything else about her. Miranda stood up slowly, taking a few hesitant steps in Danny's direction. He noticed that she shivered slightly. Their gazes met as Danny gave her a reassuring smile. "What do you want from me?" she asked Philips, her voice trembling with fear.

She looked so frightened that Danny couldn't help but approached laying his right arm around her shoulder in a futile attempt at comfort. "Hey, it's alright," he said soothingly. "Everything will be fine, okay?"

Hank Philips sneered at Danny's gesture but instead of intervening he said loudly, "Okay, same game as before, you know the rules." He looked at the group of people and waited until everyone nodded then he turned around and opened one of the bags that sat on the floor. Reaching inside, he took out a small package with some wires that looked very similar to the explosive device Danny had found near the entrance. He set it down on the floor next to the door and adjusted something that looked like a small camera. Danny frowned, trying to identify what it was when Hank stepped back and allowed him to have a better look at it.

"So, that's how all of your explosive devices work? Motion sensors? But the one at the entrance door didn't have one, otherwise I couldn't have passed," Danny said curiously, partly for the sake of giving more information to his waiting team and partly because he really wanted to know how big the chances were of being blown up accidentally by one of the devices.

Hank Philips raised an eyebrow as he pulled a small black device with some buttons out of his jacket. Waving it around, he said dismissively, "Ever heard of remote controls, Detective?" He threw Danny a strange look and his voice became icy. "Now stop asking all those questions! I said I want to show you something but until then… JUST SHUT UP!"

Danny almost flinched at that sudden outburst, raising his left hand while his right arm was still protectively wrapped around Miranda's trembling body, he said pacifying over the static crackle from his earpiece, "Hey, calm down, okay? I'm just curious…" Seeing the expression on Hank's face, he reluctantly closed his mouth and decided that for once it might be wiser to keep silent.

"_All devices may be fitted with motion sensors. Copy that! Thanks, Danny. But be careful, don't make him angry. Just don't talk too much."_ It was very hard not to react in any way to Steve's comments in his ear but Danny managed to keep a straight face. He guessed that in other circumstances Steve would probably enjoy it immensely that Danny wasn't able to answer, but now was not the time to think about that.

Danny carefully watched how Hank Philips took some deep breaths, obviously trying to brace himself. When he spoke again his behavior and his voice were back to their former politeness. "May I ask you to accompany me to the next room?" he said, pointing first at Danny and Miranda and then at the door.

The knot in Danny's stomach tightened again as he noticed the change in the other man. These mood swings were not good, he needed to be extra careful not to trigger some unpredictable reaction in the future.

"Step out into the corridor and wait right next to the door on the left," Hank said, following Danny and Miranda out of the room. Miranda was no longer trembling but Danny could tell that she still was more than frightened. She stayed close to him as he tried to give her as much comfort as possible, his arm still around her shoulder. They did as Hank told them and waited in the corridor until he had pressed some buttons on the small remote control in his hand, stowed it away in his pocket and joined them. Philips approached them, changing his weapon from one hand to the other. He finally took off his heavy jacket and hung it up neatly on one of the coat hooks on the wall. Danny couldn't believe his eyes when he looked at the other man and noticed his new appearance. He heard Miranda gasp next to him and before he could stop himself he blurted out, "Oh, come on, seriously? An explosive belt, like a freaking suicide bomber? You must be kidding!"

Hank Philips whirled around and before Danny could even blink, the older man backhanded him square in the face with his gun. Miranda screamed, terrified when Danny stumbled against her and breathed out a hoarse groan.

"_Danny? What happened? You okay?"_ Steve's anxious voice was barely audible over the ringing in his ears.

"That was for disobeying my instructions, Detective!" Hank's tone was low and cold and Danny had no more doubt that he was really unpredictable and dangerous. "I said no more talking, is that clear?"

Nodding slowly, Danny said carefully through the pain in his head, "Crystal clear." He hoped that with those words Steve would also get the message that he was more or less okay. Danny raised his hand to touch his cheekbone; at the moment the whole left side of his face was just thankfully numb but he was sure that the pain would set in before long. He already felt his eye swelling shut and he had to blink a few times to get rid of the dots dancing in his vision. Letting his hand drop again, he looked at it; well, at least there was no blood, he thought sarcastically.

"_Man, for heaven's sake, just shut your mouth for once. Do you hear me, Danny?"_ Danny had never thought that one day he would appreciate the advice of his partner but he had to admit that at the moment Steve really seemed to be the more rational one. _"We are trying to find a way past the motion sensors, just hold on, okay?"_

Miranda sobbed silently and Danny could feel that she was trembling again. He was surprised to find that he still held her close, gently stroking her arm to calm her.

As if nothing had happened Hank said politely, "Please, go ahead." He pointed at the door in front of them, giving Danny an encouraging nod. Danny stepped forward as he laid his hand on the knob. As soon as he had opened the door he noticed a coppery smell that immediately told him what they would find even before he saw the body on the floor. The man was lying on his stomach and even if Danny could not see his face he was sure that he was far beyond any help considering the amount of blood in the room.

Danny heard a sharp intake of breath next to him as Miranda turned around, hiding her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, murmuring soothingly. Danny opened his mouth but even that simple motion sent a spike of pain through his skull and reminded him, just in time, that it was better to remain silent; snapping his mouth shut, Danny stared at Philips.

Obviously unimpressed by Danny's glare Hank Philips closed the door behind him, pointed his weapon at the two people in front of him and said friendly, "Miranda, please come here."

Danny felt the young woman stiffen, she was openly sobbing now, but she didn't move away from him.

"I said, come here!" Hank's voice had changed and was again holding that same icy tone from before. Reluctantly Danny released Miranda from his embrace as she finally obeyed Hank's order. She had almost reached him when Hank pulled a large butterfly knife out of his pocket. Flipping it open with a smooth turn of his wrist, he looked pensively at it for a moment.

Seeing the glint of madness in Philips' eyes, Danny could literally feel his heart stop beating for a mere second. Blood rushed in his ears as he also made as step forward; he suddenly knew what was going to happen. Despite the weapon in Hank's hand he tried to step in front of Miranda to shield her from the other man. But he had underestimated Hank's speed and ferocity, once more Danny felt the SIG Sauer connect with his face, more violent than the last time. His head snapped sideways as white-hot pain shot through his head and neck. The world was spinning as he staggered into the wall behind him, his vision blurred as he tried desperately to remain upright, feeling his knees buckle.

The next thing Danny knew was that he was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and his legs in an awkward angle underneath him. He didn't know how long he had been out or what sound had woken him, the soft moaning, the static crackle over his earpiece and the frantic voice of his partner who shouted his name over and over again, or the rattling noise from somewhere next to him.

Trying his best to ignore the voice in his ear for the moment, he just concentrated on the other sounds. The moaning had stopped and Danny noticed embarrassingly that it was probably him who had made the pitiful sound. He opened his eyes – or well, at least he opened the right eye because the left one was now swollen almost completely shut, only opening it to a mere slit. He blinked a few times, waiting for the room to stop spinning around him and his vision to clear. Swallowing against the nausea daring to overwhelm him, he licked his lips but the metallic taste of blood didn't exactly help to ease his stomach. He swallowed again forcefully, turning his attention to his surroundings, Danny just wished that Steve would stop shouting. His headache was bad enough even without someone yelling constantly in his ear.

Supporting himself on the wall Danny stood up slowly; his head pounding, the left side of his face hurting like hell. Blood trickled down his chin, he supposed from a split lip, raising his right arm Danny pressed the sleeve of his shirt against his mouth. Looking around, his gaze fell on Hank Philips who sat lazily on one of the tables staring at the blood-covered butterfly knife in his hand.

Danny noticed that the room was now deadly silent, all former noises had ceased, the rattling had stopped and even Steve was blissfully quiet for once. A sudden dread washing over him, Danny would have liked to do nothing more than just close his eyes so that he wouldn't have to see what was in front of him. Still leaning against the wall he swallowed heavily against the nausea and clenched his teeth as his gaze traveled reluctantly to the floor. His face contorted in grief and horror when he saw Miranda lying there, her lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling, her hands raised to her neck in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. Danny saw that she hadn't stood the slightest chance. Her throat had been cut with one horrible blow, leaving her to die within minutes.

Blinking away the tears that had filled his eyes, Danny took a deep breath as he turned toward Philips, saying through his clenched teeth, "Why?"

"Uh, uh, remember our agreement, Detective?" Hank interrupted him in a friendly tone. However it could not override the dangerous glint in his eyes. "No talking!"

"_Danny, thank God, are you okay?"_ Steve's voice was back in his head, Danny noticed the worry that was now mixed with a small hint of relief.

Danny coughed, grimacing at the pain spiking through his head. He just hoped that the sound reassured his partner enough to remain silent; he simply didn't have the nerve to listen to Steve's babbling right now. Staring at Hank Philips, he considered his options. He flinched slightly when Hank suddenly asked, "Do you know how my daughter died?"

Danny managed with some difficulty not to roll his eyes; obviously he was now allowed to speak. He had no real wish to make small talk with a crazy murderer but Philips was the one with the weapons and it seemed to be a pretty good idea not to anger him any further so Danny tried very much to keep his voice calm and polite. "It was a car accident, wasn't it?"

"A car accident, yes!" Hank laughed joylessly. "It was just a slight collision, nothing deadly, just a stupid little accident. But the window on the driver's side broke, one piece of glass slicing her neck." He looked at Danny with burning eyes. "She bled to death in her car. And her mother – my ex-wife," he almost spit out the last word, "was sitting right next to her and did nothing to help her. Nothing!"

Rage suddenly bubbled up in Danny. He didn't care any longer if he was allowed to speak or not as he said furiously, "That is a terrible way to lose a child, but that doesn't give you the right to come here and start slaughtering innocent people! Why did you choose him?" Danny pointed at the dead bodies. "Why Miranda?" He swallowed heavily at the sight of the young woman who had been alive and standing next to him only a few minutes ago. Averting his eyes from the horrible scene, looking back at Hank but the man was now obviously far beyond any reasonable conversation.

"My daughter died because my ex-wife took her from me! She divorced me and took my children!" Hank yelled. He got up from the table, taking a few steps in Danny's direction. "All this would never have happened if she had stayed with me!"

The pain in Danny's head had reduced to an uncomfortable dull throbbing. He cautiously pushed himself away from the wall when he noticed Hank had left his place on the table. Whatever the man was up to next, Danny felt safer if he had some space to react.

"Why did she leave me?" Hank yelled even louder than before.

Watching the other man closely, taking in the weapons, the explosive belt, the lunatic expression on his face, Danny was sure that he could come up with maybe one or two reasons why a woman would rather choose not to live with this man any longer. But he knew that was probably not what Hank would like to hear so he swallowed his sarcastic comment and instead said without really thinking, "Well, you might be asking the wrong guy. I'm not the best at giving advice when it comes to marriage."

Philips narrowed his eyes as he said slowly, his tone reduced to a normal volume, "You are not better than them, Detective." He threw a quick glance at the two dead bodies on the floor before his eyes settled back on Danny. "You see, that is why I chose them. And why I'm glad that you decided to join our little party, you were the last one on my list." Making a dismissive gesture, he snorted. "All the other parents were of no interest to me, all these happily married couples..."

Danny needed a moment to process what he had just heard, the headache didn't exactly help in trying to think straight. He blinked confusedly, then frowned, asking disgustedly, "That's why you killed them? Because they were divorced?" It never occurred to Danny that he was perhaps in even greater danger than he thought.

Coming closer, Hank said coldly, "Yes!"

"Yes?" Danny's jaw dropped as he stared at Hank. "That's it? You slit the throats of innocent people because your wife left you?" He shook his head in disbelief and before he realized it he asked, "You are absolutely crazy, you know that, right?" He was aware that this was probably not the smartest thing he could have said but at least this time Danny saw the strike coming.

At the same time he heard Steve shouting over his earpiece _"DANNY, don't!"_ he raised his arm, turning his body just enough to avoid a third hit to his face. The blow struck Danny painfully across the upper back and he staggered slightly from the force of the impact.

"Hey man, just stop hitting me, okay?" Danny groaned angrily, stretching his shoulder. "That will lead to nothing."

Hank watched Danny closely, his eyes twinkled with hatred behind his glasses. "You are right, no more hitting. I have other plans for you." He cocked his head at the sound of a distant rumble from somewhere outside the building. "You are coming with me, Detective, you're my ticket out of here." Pointing his weapon at Danny, Hank said politely with a nod toward the door, "After you."

"Where are we going?" Danny asked, his mind racing to find a way out of this mess. He had a bad feeling that Hank was not planning to just set him free once they left the building. Instead of answering Hank Philips roughly pressed the weapon against Danny's spine and pushed him forward. Danny sighed, this was definitely not how he had fancied his day.

His earpiece crackled again and he blinked against the headache that Steve's voice caused, _"Danny? Listen, we're coming in soon. We've probably found a way to deactivate the motion sensors."_

Danny sighed again, biting his tongue in frustration, _Probably?_ He thought sarcastically. _Great, now I have the choice between getting my throat cut or getting blown up._

Looking around cautiously, he tried to figure where Hank would be going. Most of the time when he picked up Grace from school he waited outside but he had been inside the building a few times before so he had a rough idea of where they were going.

"_Oh, and Danny… could you just try to not anger him any more? Please?" _Danny swallowed. Oh man, he must have been in deeper trouble than he thought because he had never actually heard Steve begging for something before. Well, too bad, because Danny was sure that his next action wouldn't exactly help keep Hank's emotions in check, but he needed to let Steve know where they were going, so Danny did what he was best at… he talked.

"So, you're trying to slip through the back-door?" He asked, preparing for another blow that surprisingly enough never came. Danny shrugged and continued, "From what I see you have two possible escape routes… you could either leave through the gym or the gardens." A nudge to his shoulder made him turn left at the end of the corridor. "Ok, the gym it is, that's what I thought." Danny turned his head just enough so that he could watch Hank.

"Well, Detective, if you're trying to upset me, I can tell you it's not working. As I already said, I have plans for you…" Hank's tone was still polite but was now also laced with anger and impatience. "You will get your fair share soon enough."

**(tbc)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes:  
><strong>A Happy New Year to all of you :-)  
>Thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts.<strong><br>**

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><p>"How long until the explosive devices are deactivated?" Steve asked testily.<p>

Intermitting his nervous pacing, he came to a halt next to some bomb squad members. Without looking up, one of them answered in a patient tone that didn't help at all to calm Steve's nerves, "Five more minutes, Commander."

Putting his hands on his hips, McGarrett breathed out a frustrated sigh. His gaze was glued to the school building as if he could tear down the walls and rescue the hostages by sheer willpower. Danny's voice over the earpiece giving descriptions of possible escape routes only distracted him momentarily from his impatient waiting. Steve had already been over the map of the school grounds. He had already figured that Hank had planned to escape through the gym and even though Steve knew the take down plan by heart he took another look to make sure he had everything thought through perfectly.

His thoughts traveled to Danny; he wasn't exactly sure what was happening inside the building and that really worried him. McGarrett never thought he would think something like this, but right now it really unnerved him that Danny was not able to speak freely. Steve was so used to hearing Danny talk and rant day in and day out that he almost freaked out earlier hearing Hank Philips first yell at Danny, then a sickening thud and almost three minutes of silence – yes he knew exactly how long because he had counted every single second while he had been shouting Danny's name over and over again – before finally hearing the soft moans of his partner. His stomach tightened from worry and anger but he tried to stow these feelings away. He needed a clear head once they stormed the building.

Someone cleared their throat behind him and Steve turned around. "Commander? It's done – we can start whenever you're ready." Steve nodded a short thank before he clapped his hands and raised his voice, "OK, everyone knows their position?" Looking around at the waiting police officers and bomb squad members, he was pleased to see only calm acceptance on their faces. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw paramedics waiting and prayed that their service wouldn't be needed. Locking out any disturbing thoughts with a deep breath, he said loud and clear so everyone could hear him, "Let's move!"

McGarrett, together with a group of eight more men and women, jogged around the building until they reached the backside of the gym while Chin and Kono lead similar group of officers into other areas of the school. Once the bomb squad gave its final okay they would go in, rescuing the parents. Steve knew that they were perfectly capable of handling the situation so he could focus solely on finding Danny.

Giving the police officers a sign, they fanned out to secure the building while Steve snuck into one of the locker rooms through an emergency exit. He had insisted on going in alone; he didn't want to take the risk of alarming Hank Philips, not with Danny or other possible hostages still in his hands.

His weapon at the ready McGarrett carefully crossed the room, peering around the corner into the next corridor. There were three more doors and while Steve was still trying to figure out which option he should choose he heard the distant sound of footsteps through the first door on the left. He quickly recalled the ground plans of the building; if he remembered correctly it was another locker room which had an emergency exit leading to a small courtyard where police officers would be waiting. He nodded once to himself as he silently opened the door with grim determination.

Years of training allowed him to take in everything inside the room in the blink of an eye. He indeed found himself in another elongated locker room with a row of wardrobes and seats on one wall and some small windows on the opposite wall. As expected the only other possible exit was the emergency door at the other end of the room, about ten steps away from where Steve was standing. It was there, not far from the door, he finally found Danny, his heart sinking as he fully grasped the situation.

Steve had intended to sneak up on Hank Philips, perhaps knocking him out in a surprise attack, but although he had been as silent as possible entering the room he must have made enough noise to alarm Philips. _So much for these highly acclaimed SEAL skills_, Steve thought embarrassed, but he had no time for this so he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind, assessing the situation. He already knew from Danny's comments earlier that Hank was wearing a suicide vest but the sheer amount of explosives concerned him. Steve had some experience with explosive devices and what he saw, from where he was standing, Philips had enough C4 on him to blow up the whole building. The other thing that worried him deeply was the big butterfly knife that was tightly pressed against Danny's throat.

Knowing that it was probably useless Steve, nevertheless, said loudly, "Five-0! Hank Philips, you are under arrest. Drop your weapon!"

As he had already expected his words did not have the desired effect – somehow that sentence never seemed to work and he could see in Danny's face that the exact same thought crossed his mind. But what Steve never had bargained for was Hank Philips' reaction, namely that he started to laugh, seemingly amused.

"Oh, Five-0," he said in a tone of mock admiration before the laughter abated and his voice became cold. "You obviously have the advantage of knowing my name; would you be so kind to tell me yours?"

Steve narrowed his eyes, deciding to play along for the moment. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett…" but before he could say more he was momentarily distracted by Chin's voice over his earpiece. _"Steve? We found two dead bodies, all other hostages are safe and unharmed! Bomb squad just confirmed that all motion sensors are deactivated."_

Steve allowed himself a tiny moment of triumph; now he could direct all his concentration on the two men in front of him, as he tried once again to persuade Philips to give up. "Drop the knife!" he said fiercely, raising his weapon a little bit higher. "Drop the knife and let him go! Now!" McGarrett calculated his chances; he knew that he would be able to eliminate Hank Philips with a well-aimed shot to the head if it came to that, although Danny would probably argue to the contrary, Steve really would prefer a less violent solution.

"I don't think so, Commander!" Steve grimaced seeing the obnoxious smile spreading across Hank's face. The older man pressing his knife even tighter against Danny's throat as he slowly raised his right hand, revealing a small black device. His next words confirmed Steve's worst fears, "I guess you're familiar with C4 explosive? Well, you see, I have enough of this stuff on me to not only blow up the people in this room but the whole building as well. All I have to do is let go of this little button and… boom! Is it that what you want?" Steve swallowed disgustedly when that stupid smile on Hank's face grew even bigger. "That's what I thought. So I think that you will be the one who will drop the weapon and step back."

Steve stared at Philips for a moment, he wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do next but that was definitely not among the possibilities. Letting his gaze travel over his partner, McGarrett could feel anger bubbling up in him when he took in Danny's appearance. The left side of Danny's face was heavily bruised and his left eye was almost completely swollen shut. Blood was slowly trickling from a split lip and there was a crimson smudge on his right sleeve. His whole posture was rigid and guarded and Steve knew Danny well enough to tell that he was in pain.

McGarrett narrowed his eyes, shifting his gaze to the device in Philips's hand. His mind had been racing ever since Chin reported on finding the two dead bodies. Hank was obviously dangerous and Steve had no doubt that the man was capable of killing Danny without hesitation. But Steve wouldn't allow that, there must be a possible way to end all this right here and now.

"Drop your weapon and let me go!" Hank's voice was cutting through Steve's thoughts. Philips took a few steps back toward the emergency exit forcing Danny to follow by still pressing the knife against his throat.

Steve stood stock-still, not moving but not lowering his weapon either. An idea crossed his mind, a small flicker of hope, the one possibility he had been looking for. He couldn't see any other way out of this, he couldn't shoot Philips because of the stupid C4 he had on him and he had no hope of acting fast enough once Philips decided to finally cut Danny's throat. There was only one option left.

Steve blinked once, hoping Danny would understand that there was no other possibility. McGarrett looked up when he heard Danny speak, flinching at the tone in his partner's raspy voice, "Nononono, Steve! Hell, no! Steven, don't you dare to do this!"

Steve saw Danny take a deep breath, so deep that the blade finally scratched his skin, blood slowly trickling down his neck. Trying to fight back the remorse, the guilt, and the fear he was feeling, Steve blocked out everything around him, focusing solely on the task before him. Danny took a second deep breath as Hank retreated further. They had almost reached the door when Danny took a third and final breath before he looked up, locking eyes with McGarrett. For the length of a heartbeat nothing happened and time seemed to stand still until Danny finally blinked slowly.

Steve didn't wait any longer; lowering his weapon a few inches in one swift move, he pulled the trigger exactly at the same moment Hank Philips shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The room reverberated with the sound of the shot and Steve watched horrified as his bullet lodged itself in the middle of Danny's thigh. He had aimed for a clear through and through laterally to Danny's leg where no major blood vessels or nerves were situated, but unfortunately Hank's tiny movement had been enough to shatter that plan in the fraction of a second.

Danny's right leg bent, not supporting his weight any longer as he stumbled sideways against the wall, before dropping abruptly to the floor with a choked cry. Totally taken aback by Steve's unorthodox action Hank Philips didn't even try to prevent Danny from going down and the butterfly knife that had threatened Danny's life only moments ago was now dangling uselessly from his left hand.

Steve carefully made a step in Hank's direction, throwing a hasty and worried glance at Danny who was sitting on the floor, back against the wall. Clasping his injured leg with both hands Danny returned Steve's look from pain-filled eyes. "What the hell…" he forced out as his voice trailed off in an agonized moan.

Hank Philips growled deep in his throat; that had been a measure he had never had foreseen, McGarrett had taken away his last hostage, his last threat that he could have used against the police. Seeing only one other course of action, Philips pulled himself together quickly and without wasting another thought on his former hostage, Hank coldly stared at Steve. "That was probably your very last error, Commander."

With these words he raised his right hand and like in slow-motion Steve watched as Philips' fingers uncurled and the small black device started to slip from his grip.

Steve had no time to think, he just acted on pure instinct, diving headlong into the older man with all the strength he possessed. Both bodies crashed against the emergency door which opened from the force of the impact and they tumbled to the concrete floor. A sudden, intense pain ran through Steve's right elbow when he hit the ground but he shoved the feeling away, struggling to his feet as quickly as possible. Looking around frantically, he found the small black device miraculously still secured tightly in Hank's grip; Philips must have instinctively renewed his hold on the device when Steve tackled him.

Before Hank could even blink, Steve jumped at him, trying to wrap both of his hands around Hank's fingers to prevent him from letting go of the button. Steve exhaled a pained hiss as he moved his right arm; his fingers were suddenly numb and he was no longer able to flex them.

Luckily the police officers who had been positioned just outside the door had summed up the situation in the blink of an eye and before Steve could even call for help a second pair of hands closed around his own. "It's okay, Commander McGarrett, you can let go – I have him."

Removing his hands slowly and carefully from underneath the police officer's fingers, Steve sat back on his heels. Panting heavily he nodded a thank-you to the young Hawaiian officer in front of him and instructed, "Be extra careful and make sure that bomb squad has a look at this."

He maintained his position for another second catching his breath before he stood up in a hurry. It seemed to him as if it had been hours since he had pulled the trigger of his weapon but he knew in reality not more than two minutes could have passed. Whirling around, McGarrett accidentally bumped into another police officer, immediately a sharp pain spread from his elbow through his entire right arm. Not able to completely suppress a moan he pressed the arm tightly to his body, covering his elbow protectively with his left hand.

Throwing him a worried look, the woman in front of him asked, "Are you okay, Commander? You are…"

"I'm fine," Steve cut her short mid-sentence. "But I have an officer down – send in the paramedics, NOW!" he yelled over his shoulder while running back into the locker room. Ignoring the pain in his arm he knelt down next to his fallen partner, grabbing Danny's shoulder. "Hey Danny? You alright?"

"Am I… am I alright? Do I look alright to you?" If looks could kill, Steve was sure he would drop dead in a jiffy. "Three hours, Steven. It took you less than half a day to get me shot. That's gross, even for your standards. Oh no, wait, you didn't get me shot, you shot me yourself." Danny took a shuddering breath. "You shot me, you freak! Deliberately! You are mentally disturbed! Did the army drill a hole in your brain?" He weakly raised his left hand, drawing a small circle in the air as any other movement was far beyond his strength.

Blinking tiredly, his hand dropping back to his lap as he leaned his head against the wall to ease the pounding headache and the growing dizziness. His next words were nothing more than a whisper and it was only then that Steve noticed the sweat on Danny's too pale face and his labored breathing. "No Steven, I'm obviously not alright."

Coughing weakly, Danny closed his eyes, his face contorting in pain as he grabbed his right thigh where Steve's bullet had hit him. The entry wound was bleeding moderately; Danny knew that the blood loss was not life-threatening yet but nevertheless he was shivering slightly, feeling his heart beating frantically in his chest. The simple task of breathing seemed to get more and more difficult with every second. His leg was shaking badly as his grip tightened in a vain attempt to stop the trembling and the pain that flowed through his thigh with every tiny movement. His eyes snapped open as he felt Steve gently squeezing his shoulder and Danny gritted his teeth at the agony that shot through various parts of his body. He wasn't able to prevent the stifled moan that left his throat.

"Hey, it's okay… just lie down. Take it easy, man." Danny could decipher neither the tone in Steve's voice nor the expression on his face. Any other time it would have been fun to name that new face but at the moment he couldn't even muster the energy to think about it. He was too busy trying to decide which was worse – the pounding in his head, the pain in his leg, or the cold he was feeling that made his whole body shiver. Danny noticed he was lying on the floor, but couldn't remember how he had gotten there. He could feel the cold stone beneath him, the shivering increasing with every breath he drew. The pressure building up in his chest made it even more difficult to draw in enough air, he coughed again as he tried to fill his lungs.

"Danny? Hey, stay awake! Can you hear me?" Danny blinked, fighting to open his eyes; he was not sure when he had closed them. His gaze was unsteady as he tried to catch Steve's eye, a grey veil shadowing his view. He blinked again, asking himself if it was really worth the struggle to keep his eyes open. "Hey, stay with me! EMS will be here shortly, okay? Danny? Everything will be alright, do you understand? Danny? Hey, talk to me!" Danny was still unsure about the tone, was that really worry in Steve's voice?

The corners of Danny's mouth twitched slightly and the ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he whispered hoarsely between two gasps, "I wonder how you will explain that it was you who killed me." With another slow blink and another slight twitch of his mouth he added, "Reading your report would have been fun…" His voice trailing off, no longer having the energy to keep his eyes open as they slipped closed. The last thing he heard over his own ragged breathing, as he drifted into blissful darkness, were Steve's desperate pleas to stay awake but he was just too damn tired to care about.

**(tbc)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes:  
><strong>Disclaimer see chapter 1  
>Again a huge thank you for all the reviews and alerts and of course to <strong>montez<strong> for betaing :-)

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><p>"Danny? Hey, stay with me! Come on, open your eyes! Danny?" McGarrett tightened his grip on Danny's shoulder, desperately trying to keep the situation under control. Gritting his teeth, he thought about the conversation he had had with Danny only a few hours ago. <em>'I won't get you shot,'<em> he had said with utter conviction. His heart now clenched painfully in his chest as he looked down at his unconscious partner. What had he done? He had never intended to harm Danny like this…

Hearing footsteps behind him that pulled him forcefully out of his dark thoughts, Steve turned his head just in time to see two paramedics enter the room. They were a strange looking team; the man was about Steve's age, massive and roughly 6'4 tall, while his colleague was a petite middle-aged Asian woman who looked like a fragile child beside her giant partner. Not wasting any time both knelt down next to Danny, immediately opening the two large emergency kits they had brought together with a gurney.

Steve backed up a little bit, just enough to give them space to work, but he made sure that he stayed within Danny's reach. Silently, he watched as the paramedics quickly and efficiently started to check on Danny.

"Hey, JayJay, you remember Detective Williams? Danny, isn't it?" The woman said to her partner while she attached a blood pressure cuff to Danny's left arm. Shifting her gaze to McGarrett, she thought for a moment and added, "You're Steve, right?" Not waiting for an answer, she returned her attention to her patient, taking a stethoscope out of the box next to her.

Steve frowned as he shook his head slightly, asking, "Uh… I'm sorry but have we met?"

"Oh, you probably wouldn't remember, you were pretty much knocked out the last time we met." The tall paramedic answered Steve's question, pointing swiftly at his colleague. "This is Keiko, my name is JayJay." With a short side glance at Danny he added, "Seems like your roles are reversed this time."

JayJay cut open Danny's pant to get better access to the wound in his leg. Wiping away the blood that was still sluggishly oozing from the wound he asked Steve, "Can you tell us what happened?"

"He… I…" Steve swallowed hard and ran his left hand through his hair. "He was shot from close range…" his voice trailing off as he whispered under his breath, "It was supposed to be a clear through and through… it wasn't supposed to do so much damage…"

JayJay tried to process what he had just heard. Aside from providing initial treatment, dealing with family members and friends was a big part of his job and in his years as a paramedic he had seen and heard enough incredible things to read the fine nuances in what people were saying or rather not saying. He looked up, giving Steve a strange look, "You mean… you did this? You shot him? But he's your partner, isn't he?" Seeing the tormented look on McGarrett's face, he quickly said with a little wave of his hand. "Never mind, that's not the story to tell right now. Is there anything else you can tell us? When did this happen? How long has he been unconscious? What happened to his face? Anything and everything that could be useful."

Steve's gaze shifted from the gunshot wound in Danny's leg to the bruised and beaten face of his partner. He swallowed again, trying very hard to keep his emotions at bay. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself together; he was not helping Danny if he lost himself in feelings of guilt. He could do this, for heaven's sake, he had received the best and hardest training in the world. He took another deep breath and let his SEAL training take over, finally giving the paramedics a clear and brief overview of what had happened. "The shot was fired about five minutes ago. Danny was conscious, he talked to me but he had some trouble breathing; he passed out only seconds before you arrived."

Giving Steve an encouraging nod, JayJay asked, "What about his face?"

"I don't know for sure, I think he got hit twice, probably with a gun. I think he was unconscious after the second hit for about three minutes." Steve thought for a second before he added, "That's everything I can tell you."

"Okay, Steve, thanks. You did good." After a short reassuring smile, JayJay turned his attention to his colleague and said, "His left cheekbone might be fractured; X-rays will clarify that later. I'm sure he also has a concussion, judging from the bruises on his face. The bullet wound probably needs some surgery but I got the bleeding under control for now. What about his vital signs?"

A deep crease appeared on JayJay's forehead as he listened to Keiko listing Danny's vitals. "Hm, that's unusual…" he said, more to himself than to anybody specific. Nevertheless Keiko gave him an affirmative nod, her brows furrowed in concentration. Turning toward Steve, she suddenly asked, "You said he had trouble breathing… did he cough?"

Nodding slowly, Steve said, "Yes, he coughed twice I think." Steve felt an icy knot form in his stomach, seeing the expression on the paramedics' faces. "What's wrong?" he pushed.

"I'm not sure. This might just be the first symptoms of going into shock but his vitals are ambiguous. I think there's something else…" JayJay threw another look at Danny's vitals as a thoughtful expression spread on his face. Pursing his lips, his gaze traveled slowly to the gunshot wound in Danny's thigh. "No exit wound, that means the bullet most likely hit the bone." JayJay looked up, locking eyes with his partner.

The petite woman returned the look with a hesitant nod. "You think it's an embolism?" she asked, once more rechecking the vitals.

"Yeah, I think so," JayJay confirmed fiercely, standing up in a swift move that betrayed his massive frame. "I'll prepare the gurney. Put him on 100% O2, we need to move him quickly, we can set up an IV in the ambulance. Queens is only five minutes away, I'd like to see him in intensive care, sooner rather than later."

"What's wrong?" Steve repeated, listening to the verbal exchange with growing confusion and dread. He watched helplessly as the paramedics strapped Danny onto the gurney, waiting impatiently for one of them to answer his question. He followed them outside to the ambulance parked only a few steps away. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed a bunch of people, no doubt bomb squad members, who were still busy deactivating Hank Philips' explosive belt; it reminded Steve of the fact that it was only a few minutes ago when he had managed to overwhelm Philips. He didn't stop to take a closer look, climbing without further ado into the back of the ambulance; there was no way he would leave Danny alone! He glared defiantly at Keiko to nip any upcoming resistance in the bud but she just said, smiling gently, "You can come along with us." Her gaze traveled slightly downward, "then we can also have a look at your arm."

"My arm?" Steve asked confused, seemingly unaware that he still had his right arm pressed tightly against his body.

"You're bleeding and your elbow looks pretty swollen and painful. You need to have it checked out and X-rayed, I think it might be broken." Keiko answered calmly, watching him closely. "Any more injuries you're trying to hide?"

"I'm fine!" Steve growled angrily, staring at the blood from the graze on his arm he hadn't noticed before. "Just take care of Danny!"

Ignoring his objection, Keiko asked, "You want me to give you something for the pain?"

Shaking his head, Steve said once more, urgently this time, "Just tell me what's wrong with him." He looked away from JayJay who was busy setting up an IV, to Danny's pale face, now covered with an oxygen mask. "Please," McGarrett added, locking eyes with Keiko. "I need to know…"

The sirens of the ambulance went off at the same time Steve felt the vehicle start to move. It was hard to understand Keiko's explanation over the howling sound, so Steve leaned slightly forward, exhaling a choked moan through gritted teeth as he jolted his injured arm.

Keiko raised an eyebrow but didn't try to address the subject again. Swallowing down any comment about male stubbornness, she explained, "We believe that the gunshot wound to his leg caused what we call a fat embolism. The signs and symptoms are similar to those of a pulmonary embolism but unlike a pulmonary embolism, a fat embolism is not caused by blood clots. The bullet most likely hit the femur and due to the damage to the bone, causing fat and bone marrow cells to enter the bloodstream, leading to occlusions in pulmonary and cerebral blood vessels."

Staring at her in shock, McGarrett needed a few seconds to understand what she had said. Embolisms were something that should not be taken lightly and as far as he knew the mortality rate was pretty damn high. Steve wiped his left hand over his mouth and chin, trying to grasp the real extent of her words. "But he will be alright?" Steve whispered hoarsely, his heart constricting painfully as he saw the compassionate look in Keiko's eyes.

"We will do what we can," she replied gently and Steve was very well aware of the fact that she hadn't exactly answered his question, giving a stereotypical response like that. Leaning his head against the wall, he closed his eyes, his left hand unconsciously tightening around his injured elbow. Immediately white-hot fire shot through his arm, but at the moment he was glad to have anything that might help divert his thoughts and he focused entirely on the stabbing pain, embracing it with his whole mind.

"We're here!" Hearing the driver's voice over the sound of the sirens, Steve looked up, noticing that Keiko was still watching him.

"Just in time, I don't like where his vitals are going." Steve shifted his gaze to JayJay, not being able to stand the pity in Keiko's eyes any longer but he didn't like the worry he saw in JayJay's eyes either.

The next few moments passed in a mass of people and voices. Hectic doctors and nurses helping unload the gurney, rushing Danny into the hospital building, shouting vitals, diagnoses and possible methods of treatment. Although he had tried desperately not to fall behind, Steve suddenly found himself in front of the ER, face to face with a young Hawaiian doctor resolutely blocking his path. "I'm sorry, but you can't go in there, Sir."

Deciding on just ignoring her, Steve tried to sneak past her but the woman straightened up to her full height, only about three or four inches smaller than Steve. "I said, you can't go in there! You can either stay in the waiting room or I'll call security to escort you outside." Folding her arms in front of her, she glared at Steve. "It's your choice."

Something in her voice told McGarrett that she was dead serious about her threat. Switching strategies, he put on a forced smile, hoping to convince her with his charm but to his infinite annoyance, that didn't have the desired outcome either, a fact that Danny probably would have found extremely funny.

Raising an eyebrow the young woman said dryly, "Really? Is that the best you can offer?" She sighed, her gaze growing gentler as she noticed the pained expression on Steve's face. "Look, I know you're concerned about your… friend?" she said hesitantly.

"He's my partner, Detective Danny Williams. He…"

"Danny Williams?" she interrupted, staring at him with renewed interest. "So, you're Five-0? Commander McGarrett?"

Nodding reservedly, Steve wondered why everyone he met today seemed to know him while he, on the contrary, had absolutely no idea who the people were he was talking to.

Noticing his confusion, the doctor introduced herself with a little smile, "I'm Dr. Kiana Kalakaua."

"Kalakaua?" Steve asked surprised.

Kiana nodded as her smile grew bigger. "I think you know my cousin? Kono?"

"Kono is your cousin?" Steve eyed her curiously. "She never mentioned that one of her cousins was working here at Queens."

"You see, there are quite a few of us on the island," Dr. Kalakaua said with a twinkle in her eye. "It would probably take weeks to explain what every single one is doing."

Steve knew that her comment was meant to cheer him up but all he could muster was a short-lived smile. Running his left hand through his hair, he inhaled sharply and said, "Listen, Dr. Kalakaua…"

"Please, call me Kiana," the young doctor interrupted him.

Nodding briefly he replied, "I'm Steve." Gesturing toward the ER door, McGarrett repeated, "Listen, Kiana, my partner was badly injured and I need to know how he is doing."

Kiana viewed him sympathetically. "I know, but I can't let you in there." Pondering for a second, she added, "But I can offer you a deal: you wait over there in treatment room 3, while I check on Detective Williams' status. I will be with you shortly, telling you everything I find out as you let me treat your elbow."

Steve threw her an exasperated look, "I don't need any treatment! I just want to know how Danny is." He was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone, somewhere deep in one of the pockets on the right side of his cargo pants. Automatically stretching out his right hand to take the call, Steve gritted his teeth as intense pain shot through his arm and even if he'd chosen to ignore the pain, he was quite simply not able to fully straighten his elbow. With a sigh that was half frustrated and half pained, McGarrett tried clumsily to reach the pocket with his left hand but Dr. Kalakaua beat him to the draw. Gently pushing away his hand, she reached inside his pocket, pulling out his mobile.

Holding up the device just out of Steve's reach, she said, "I'll let you take this call but afterward we will take care of your arm. Do we have a deal?"

Steve glared at her for a long moment, finally sighing and nodding in defeat, too tired to argue anymore.

"Alright, then I'm going to check on your partner," handing Steve his phone, she disappeared into the ER, swiftly closing the door behind her.

Glaring at her retreating back, Steve barked angrily into his phone, "McGarrett?"

"_It's Chin! Where are you, boss? Is everything alright?"_

Steve closed his eyes, cursing under his breath; having been so focused on Danny's well-being, he'd totally forgotten to inform the rest of his team about what happened. Taking a deep breath, he quickly said, "Chin, hey, I'm sorry. I'm with Danny at Queens…" Steve hesitated, not sure how to explain the situation.

"_At the hospital? What happened? Is Danny alright?"_ Chin's voice had lost some of its usual calmness as he continued, _"Are you alright?"_

"I'm fine," Steve answered automatically. "But Danny is… he is… he was shot," he grimaced, taking the easy way out, knowing that later there would be enough time to tell Chin and Kono what really happened. "Listen, Chin, it doesn't look good… I need to be here. Can you and Kono take over, handling the situation at the school?"

"_Hey, don't worry, we have everything under control here. You just stay with Danny."_

"Thanks, man," Steve replied gratefully.

"_Don't mention it. You keep us informed on Danny's condition?"_

"Sure," Steve said, ending the call. He stared at the door to the ER for a moment before he reluctantly headed toward treatment room 3, pacing agitatedly as he waited for Dr. Kalakaua's return. His mind racing as the scene played over and over again, the sound of the single gunshot he had fired still echoing in his ears.

Tiredly Steve sat down on the treatment table, closing his eyes as he ran his left hand over his face. His concern for Danny mingled with the pain in his elbow, pulsing with every beat of his heart.

"Steve?" Feeling a gentle squeeze on his shoulder, McGarrett's eyes snapped open. Throwing him a concerned look, Kiana continued, "Are you alright?"

Steve nodded slightly, clearing his throat, "How is Danny?"

"Unfortunately, the gunshot wound in his leg caused what we call a fat embolism…"

Raising his hand, Steve interrupted her impatiently, "I know what it is, the paramedics explained it to me."

"Oh, okay," Kiana said surprised. "Right now he is being transferred to the OR to fix his femur and remove the bullet," she explained quietly. "He is stable at the moment, he's being given oxygen and fluids to help keep the effects of the embolism under control."

"So, he will be alright?" Steve asked, searching Kiana's face for any emotion she might show.

Dr. Kalakaua took a deep breath, answering, "As I said, at the moment he is stable. But you have to realize that he's not out of the woods yet, keep in mind that surgery always poses a risk. Besides we can't tell yet what possible aftereffects the embolism might have."

Pressing his lips together, Steve lowered his gaze, unable to meet Kiana's eyes any longer. He stared at the floor, his mind numb from fear and worry for his partner, not to mention the guilt he was feeling. A light touch on his elbow made him look up, hissing in pain as Dr. Kalakaua carefully cleaned the graze, wiping away dried blood and dirt from his arm. She gently probed the area around the elbow, finally checking the pulse at his right wrist. Steve clenched his teeth through all this, not allowing himself to show any sign of pain or weakness.

"Pulse is strong so there is good blood flow to the hand. Can you straighten your elbow?" Noticing the pained expression on Steve's face and the almost invisible shake of his head, Kiana gently laid her hand on his arm, "It's okay, you don't have to do it. What about moving your fingers? Can you feel them?" She was met with another shake of head that confirmed her presumptive diagnosis.

"Alright, let's get some X-rays," she said, ignoring Steve's futile attempt at a protest. "I think your elbow might be fractured."

* * *

><p>Dr. Kiana Kalakaua's guess proved correct and half an hour later Steve found himself face to face with Dr. Ray Seitz. The surgeon was a few years older than Steve, about Danny's size, with short, spiky hair and a huge smile. He was of athletic build, with tanned skin and Steve could easily picture him surfing or golfing in his spare time. Specializing in hand and arm surgery, Dr. Seitz explained, "Your X-rays show an olecranon fracture, which means it's an injury to the most prominent bone of the elbow." Tapping the tip of his own elbow to show the exact location, he continued, "We can clearly see a bone fragment in the pictures. This together with the fact that you're not able to straighten your arm unfortunately means that we will have to do surgery on the elbow."<p>

"Surgery?" Steve asked reluctantly. "Is that really necessary?"

"In cases like yours, where the triceps muscle is attached to the bone fragment, the only possible treatment is surgery. Even with weeks of immobilizing the joint, the tension force of the muscle would be great enough to dislocate the fragment again." Shifting his weight from one leg to the other, Dr. Seitz continued, "The surgerical technique I'd like to use is called tension band wiring, a technique that converts tension forces into compression forces at the fracture site. It's a rather simple surgery and the goal is to begin elbow motion as soon as possible afterwards, which means no cast."

After having spent the next few minutes explaining the procedure, possible complications and the postoperative treatment, Dr. Seitz said with a smile, "If you have no more questions, we can start right now."

"Now?" Shaking his head, Steve declined vehemently, "No way, doc!"

Dr. Seitz threw him a surprised look, "Why not? The longer we wait, the more complicated it will become to fix the fracture."

"No way I'm going to have surgery now," Steve repeated angrily, his gaze traveled briefly to the door as Dr. Kalakaua entered the room. "My partner was badly injured and I will be there for him when he needs me!"

Having heard Steve's last statement, Kiana said, "I'm just back from the OR, checking on Detective Williams. Surgery is progressing slowly but surely, it will be at least another two or three more hours."

"Plenty of time to fix your elbow," Dr. Seitz chimed in.

Ignoring the interjection, Steve looked at Kiana, "How is Danny? Any news?"

The young doctor sighed but didn't break eye contact, "I won't lie to you, there were some complications in the early stages of the surgery when his heart and respiratory rate were far too high, but as far as I know it's all under control for the moment."

Steve took a deep breath, running his left hand once more over his face as he stared silently at Dr. Kalakaua.

"Listen, Steve, I know this must be difficult for you, but you can't help your partner right now." Kiana said, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "The only thing you can do right now is wait. Why not make good use of the time? I'm sure Dr. Seitz can have your elbow fixed in no time and as far as I know general anesthesia is not required."

"That's correct," Dr. Seitz confirmed Kiana's statement, looking expectantly at McGarrett. "We can perform the surgery under regional anesthesia, using a brachial plexus block to numb the arm. You would be fully alert the whole time."

"And you would be able to look in on Detective Williams as soon as he comes out of surgery." Dr. Kalakaua added, taking a step back to give Steve some space to reconsider the situation.

"Alright," Sighing, Steve finally gave Dr. Seitz a reluctant nod. "Let's do it."

* * *

><p>"Do you believe what Hank Philips told us?" Kono threw her cousin a skeptical look, asking the same question for at least the fifth time since they had left Five-0 headquarters.<p>

Chin shook his head, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't know, cuz, let's just wait for Steve's story."

Together they entered Queens Medical Center, coming to halt in front of the reception desk. Showing their badges and giving their names, Kono asked, "We are here for Detective Danny Williams, could you tell us where we can find him?"

Searching her computer, the woman replied, "Detective Williams is still in surgery, there is a waiting room on the third floor." She pointed toward the other end of the entrance hall, "Take one of the elevator to the third floor, it's the second room on the left."

"Thank you," Chin said, leading Kono toward the elevators. Two minutes later the cousins opened the door to the waiting room, expecting to find their boss.

"Where is Steve?" Kono asked surprised as she took in the empty room. "I was sure he would be here."

Pulling his mobile out of his pocket, Chin answered, "I have no idea… let's try calling him again." He dialed Steve's number, but once more the call went to voice mail. "He's still not answering."

"I'm going to look for someone who can tell us more," Kono said impatiently, heading toward the exit. She had almost reached the door when it opened and before Kono knew what was happening she found herself in a tight embrace.

"Hey Kono," Dr. Kiana Kalakaua said, keeping up the hug for another moment before she let go, waving a greeting across the room. "Chin Ho, long time no see." Nodding in return, Chin threw her a little smile; he had always liked Kiana, even if she was not related by blood.

"Kiana, nice to see you," Kono said happily, for a moment forgetting her worry for her teammates. "What are you doing here?"

"I was checking on Detective Williams when I saw you two coming in here," Kiana replied.

"How is Danny?" Kono interrupted her, noticing that Chin had joined her. "We have no idea what happened to him except that he was shot…"

Kiana nodded, "I don't know everything, I can tell you that he is coming out of surgery right now. As far as I know everything went well, the surgeons were able to fix the damage the bullet did to his leg." She took a deep breath as she continued, shifting her look between Kono and Chin, "Unfortunately the gunshot wound caused an embolism, Detective Williams is still suffering from the aftereffects. At the moment his condition is critical but stable." Kiana added quietly, "I'm sorry."

Kono gasped, as Chin put his arm around her shoulder. "Hey, I'm sure Danny will be alright," he said soothingly.

Pulling herself together, Kono swallowed, nodding at Chin with a small smile, "I know." She took a deep breath, asking her other cousin, "You don't know by any chance where Steve – Commander McGarrett – is?"

"Room 3-08, the last room at the end of the corridor," Kiana answered swiftly. "I was on my way there to let him know about Detective Williams' condition when I ran into you."

"Why isn't he waiting here?" Chin asked warily, a sneaking suspicion slowly bubbling up inside him.

Kiana threw him a surprised look, "You don't know?" Seeing the confused expression on Chin's and Kono's faces, Kiana raised an eyebrow. "He fractured his right elbow, but surgery went well, no complications. His blood pressure was a bit low after surgery, so at the moment he is still hooked up to an IV, but once that's finished he will be allowed to go home."

"Whoa, wait a second! Surgery?" Kono chimed in, turning toward Chin, "I thought he told you he was fine?"

Chin nodded, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, he did." Looking at Kiana, he added, "Can we see him?"

"Sure," Kiana replied. "Follow me, I'll take you to his room." She led Chin and Kono to the end of the corridor, stopping in front of room 3-08. "Here it is. I have some paperwork to do, but I will be right down at the nurse's station, don't hesitate to ask if you need something." Quickly hugging Kono then Chin, she disappeared down the hall.

Kono knocked on the door, giving Chin a questioning look when there was no answer. Shrugging his shoulders, Chin nodded encouragingly, "Maybe he's asleep. Just go ahead." Watching Kono quietly open the door, he followed her inside the room.

Steve was sitting on the bed, staring angrily out of the window, oblivious to the fact that he was no longer alone. He still wore the same clothes from before, beige cargo pants and a blue polo shirt, the only difference was the white bandage that covered his right elbow all the way from the middle of his upper arm to almost the wrist and the IV line attached to the back of his hand.

"Hey boss," Kono said cautiously as she stepped closer to the bed, looking worriedly at Chin, concerned about the lack of reaction they got from McGarrett. Steve's whole posture was rigid and stiff, Kono was sure he would be agitatedly pacing if he hadn't been restricted by the IV line. He looked like he was going to explode any moment, just like one of Hank Philips' explosive devices.

"You alright, brah? What happened to your arm?" Chin asked in a loud voice, finally causing a reaction.

Steve turned his head, looking at his visitors with obvious surprise, "Sorry, what?" His voice was hoarse, laced with anger, impatience and worry.

"Are you alright? What happened to your arm?" Chin repeated patiently.

Clearing his throat, Steve answered tersely, disdainfully waving his left hand, "It's nothing, just broke my elbow when I tackled Hank Philips."

Raising his eyebrows, Chin asked, "Okay, so this _nothing_ happened before or after we spoke on the phone when you told me you are fine?"

Chin's question had at least some effect on Steve's dark mood as he replied sheepishly, "Uh… before?" After all Steve had the decency to look ashamed as he glanced apologetically at Chin.

"That's what I thought," Chin said with a little shake of his head, rolling his eyes.

Smartly changing the subject, Steve asked impatiently, "Is there any news on Danny?" His gaze shifted to Kono as he continued, "Your cousin Kiana promised to check on him."

"Yeah, we met her outside," Kono nodded. "Danny just came out of surgery." She repeated the meager information Kiana had given them earlier, finishing with the description of Danny's condition.

"Critical but stable?" Steve echoed, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. Leaning forward, he covered his eyes with his left hand, whispering, "God, this is all my fault…" All the tenseness from before seemed to have disappeared from Steve's body in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only weariness and exhaustion.

"When can I see him?" Steve asked quietly from behind his hand, the desperate tone in his voice causing Chin and Kono to exchange a worried look.

"I'll ask one of the doctors," Kono offered. "I'll be right back." Turning on her heels, she left the room, leaving her cousin alone with Steve.

Chin studied his boss closely, trying to decipher what was going on inside the younger man. The anger and impatience had disappeared, having made room for a bunch of other emotions. Fear and worry for Danny were evident, Chin felt them as well, but there was something else. Chin needed a few seconds before coming to the conclusion that the predominant emotion in Steve was guilt. This in itself was nothing remarkable, Chin knew that Steve always felt responsible for his team, often taking on more blame than necessary, but this time the feeling was somehow deeper, darker, more intense.

Staring at his hands, Chin pondered for a moment on the most promising course of action. Steve wasn't the first McGarrett he'd worked with and just like his father, Steve was not one to wear his heart on his sleeve. Yet over the years, Chin had learned that with the right words at the right time even a McGarrett would start talking about what was bothering them.

"Steve?" Chin asked gently, giving his boss a few seconds to brace himself, watching as Steve slowly looked up. "What happened between Philips, Danny and you?"

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to avoid that question any longer, McGarrett swallowed heavily, Kono's return luckily saving him an immediate answer.

"Danny is still unconscious, he is on his way to ICU right now, but once he is settled, he is allowed some visitors." Kono reported quickly, closing the door behind her. "I also spoke to your surgeon; Dr. Seitz will be here in about 15 minutes and as soon as he has had another look at your arm, the IV can come out and you'll be allowed to leave."

"Thanks Kono," Steve replied gratefully with a nod of his head, returning the little smile she had given him. He remained silent for almost a full minute before he took a deep breath, shifting his gaze back to Chin who looked at him patiently.

"Steve, what happened?" Chin repeated his former question, locking eyes with McGarrett. "The only thing we know is that Danny took a bullet but Hank Philips swore he didn't fire his weapon," he said, noticing the change in Steve's posture as he continued. "He rather insisted that it was you who shot Danny."

Not able to maintain eye-contact any longer, Steve dropped his head, guilt was openly radiating from every pore of his body as he slowly nodded a few times.

"Boss?" Kono asked hesitantly, her voice laced with skepticism and disbelief.

"Philips is right," Steve looked up, letting Chin and Kono see the agony in his eyes as he finally admitted the truth, "It was me who shot Danny…"

**(tbc)**

* * *

><p><strong>Note:<br>**The character of Dr. Ray Seitz is based upon my real life cousin who is indeed a hand surgeon... unfortunately not in Honolulu :-(**  
><strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes:**  
>Disclaimer see chapter 1<br>Again a huge thank you to all of you for sticking around - enjoy the next chapter...

* * *

><p>Three days later Steve still clearly remembered the expressions on Chin's and Kono's faces when he told them what happened. At first there was only shock and surprise in their eyes, but it was soon mixed with a hint of disgust, quickly hidden behind a mask of sympathy and compassion. He'd tried to explain everything and they had said they understand, but how could they? He himself couldn't understand his own motives any longer, he was no longer sure if he had done the right thing. There had to have been another choice, something else he could have done other than shooting his partner.<p>

McGarrett shifted uneasily in his chair, cursing under his breath when his elbow painfully made contact with the armrest. He stared down at his right arm, the white bandage providing a sharp contrast to his tanned skin. For the first time in his life he just accepted, without opposition, being on medical leave, gladly taking the chance to be at Danny's side each and every moment. Part of him felt bad about not being at work, helping Chin and Kono finish the case, but he quickly shoved the feeling aside, adding it to the pile of guilt he already hid deep inside.

His gaze traveled to the still figure of his partner, assessing every single injury for at least the thousandth time, recalling what the doctors had told him about Danny's condition. The gunshot wound itself hadn't been critical, the surgeons were able to remove the bullet and fix the femur without any major problems. Danny would have to be careful not to put too much weight on the leg for a few weeks but given time it would heal completely. The bruises on Danny's face as well as the cuts on his neck had already started to heal and even his left cheekbone, which fortunately was only partially fractured, didn't require further surgery.

No, the main concern was not the visible injuries and yet it had been Steve's bullet that had caused the most trouble.

The doctors had been cautiously optimistic the first day after surgery, expecting Danny to wake up at any moment, but when nothing happened, Steve had seen the concern on their faces growing with every passing hour.

It had been almost a full day later when Danny's condition finally changed… but unfortunately not for the better.

Instead of waking up, Danny's breathing became more and more labored and it was then that Steve first heard the diagnosis 'fat embolism syndrome'. He hadn't paid a lot of attention to the doctor explaining the symptoms, something about dyspnea, impaired consciousness and petechiae, because the only thing that had stuck to his mind had been the fact that the mortality rate of fat embolism syndrome was approximately 10 to 20 percent.

Steve took a deep breath and then exhaled in a long sigh, his left hand tiredly rubbing his eyes. He hated so much not being in control of a situation, but there was absolutely nothing he could do right now. There was nothing more the doctors could do apart from providing oxygen, fluids and some drugs to ensure kidney function. It was all up to Danny now…

Steve got up from his chair next to Danny's bed. He just stood there motionless for a few minutes, looking down at his partner. Although an oxygen mask covered most of Danny's face, the bruises on his left cheek and around his swollen eye were clearly visible. His breathing was fast but steady at the moment; Steve had overheard the doctors talking earlier, if there was even the slightest sign of respiratory failure they would have no choice but to put Danny on a ventilator.

McGarrett sighed as he stiffly walked to the window, staring outside at the falling dusk without really seeing anything. Apart from the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, the room was deathly silent. Steve had somehow grown accustomed to the noise over the last few days, most of the time he managed to tone out the unnerving beeping. But now, as the last of the day's sunlight faded, he became more aware of the sound, unconsciously counting the beeps.

About 100 beeps per minute, that meant 6.000 beeps per hour, 144.000 hours per day.

Steve had been here for the last three days, leaving only during the darkest hours of the night when visiting hours were over and he had been forced to go home. Restless hours spent at home, taking a quick shower, changing clothes, trying unavailingly to find some sleep. Not even Cath had been able to help him in finding his inner peace, then he'd be back at the hospital as early as possible the next morning, sitting at Danny's bedside, watching for any change in his partner's condition.

He thanked God for the fact that Grace was still down with the flu, he couldn't have stood seeing the sadness and hope in her big brown eyes. Several hours a day, either Chin or Kono were at his side, providing support and comfort before they returned to work. On the one hand Steve was glad for their presence, for the short conversations that distracted him momentarily from his dark musing, but if he was honest he preferred being alone with Danny. He didn't want to talk anymore about what had happened or about anything else, he was so tired of explaining, he just wanted Danny to wake up, assuring him everything would be alright.

Throwing a glance at his watch, Steve sighed frustrated. Visiting hours would be over in about twenty minutes and he was sure that soon one of the nurses would show up to kick him out.

The darker it got outside, the louder the sound of the heart monitor seemed to grow in his ears. Three days of sitting, waiting and watching, that meant more than 400.000 beeps, constantly reminding him of what he had done. So much time for remorse and contemplation, for fear and guilt. Over and over Steve thought about his decision to pull the trigger, asking himself if there might have been any other option. He remembered the expression on Hank Philips' face, the mad gleam in his eyes; McGarrett had been so sure back then, that the choice he'd made was the only possible one to get Danny out alive.

It had felt so right and his only fear had been if Danny wouldn't understand his decision. Steve knew that Danny didn't like getting shot, which was totally comprehensible because, honestly, nobody liked to get hurt. He had been prepared for some major Danny rant about how crazy Steve was and what he had been thinking or if he had been thinking at all.

Raising his left arm, Steve leaned against the window, his forehead resting at his forearm. He was so tired of everything, of all those terrible things he had experienced. He closed his eyes as he heaved in another deep breath.

McGarrett had seen too many people die, too many people he had loved, cared for or worked with; family, friends, buddies. But never – _never_ – had someone he loved died at his hands. Sure, he had killed many times, perhaps too many, but it had always been part of the job, orders that had to be followed, missions that had to be completed. He had killed, had seen people die right next to him, more than once not every member of his team had made it out alive. But back in the SEALs it had always been the mission first and foremost, they had all been trained to put the success of the mission before their own life. They all knew that every mission bore a certain level of 'acceptable losses for the greater good'. But he was no longer part of a SEAL team, he was a cop now and in civilian life not everything was about the mission, but rather about the people.

Wearing a uniform, be it military or police, always poses the risk of getting hurt or dying on the job, they all knew that. But this time had been different. Danny hadn't been injured by one of the bad guys but by his own partner, who should have been there to provide support and back-up, not to deliberately shoot him. Steve didn't care any longer if Danny understood his motives, he would gladly accept any rant and yelling his partner might give him, if Danny would just wake up.

It was almost completely dark by now, the room only dimly lit by the display of the heart monitor, but Steve didn't bother to switch on the light. It didn't matter anyway, only a few more minutes until he would be forced to leave, spending another sleepless night away from his partner. He breathed in deeply as he straightened his body, rolling his shoulders in a vain attempt to ease the tenseness inside him.

Freezing abruptly in the middle of the movement, McGarrett's eyes snapped open… something was different. Slowly turning around, Steve squinted against the darkness of the room. His gaze darted around as he tried to decipher what it was, as far he could see, Danny was still lying motionless in the bed.

Steve tilted his head, listening closely to the ever-present sound of the heart monitor, noticing that the beeping was no longer as fast as before. With four large steps he crossed the room, forcefully hitting the light switch by the door. He blinked a few times until his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness as he rushed back to Danny's bedside.

A quick glance at the monitor confirmed what he'd heard, Danny's heart rate had slowed down to a steady 72. Letting his gaze travel over his partner, Steve felt his own heart start racing as he saw a slight twitch of Danny's fingers and the tiny movement behind his eyelids. Like his heart rate, Danny's respiratory rate had decreased in frequency as well, his breaths now deep and slow. His chest rose with one particular deep breath as his eyelids began to flutter.

"Danny?" Steve asked, his voice hoarse and raspy of disuse and emotion. Clearing his throat, he bent forward, gently squeezing Danny's arm. "Danny? Can you hear me?"

A small grin spread across Steve's face as Danny blinked sluggishly; after three days of waiting there was finally a change in Danny's condition.

"Danny?" Steve repeated slowly, the smile freezing on his lips. He hesitantly removed his hand from Danny's arm as he saw the unfocused and bleary gaze in his partner's blue eyes. The little bubble of hope that had built inside Steve burst all of a sudden when Danny showed no sign that he recognized or even heard McGarrett's voice.

Steve pushed the call button with trembling fingers as he watched Danny's eyes slip closed once again.

**(tbc)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes:  
><strong>Here it is, the final (and by far longest) chapter – I hope you enjoy :-)  
>Thank you so much for sticking around until the end, for all the reviews and alerts!<br>I cannot express my gratitude to **montez** for all the time and effort she put into my story, a great big Thank you / Mahalo / Dankeschön to you, you're the best!

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><p>Coming to slowly, Danny tried his best to ignore the unnerving beeping of his alarm clock. He wanted nothing more than to silence the annoying sound, but he could barely muster the energy to open his eyes, let alone raise his arm.<p>

He didn't know what hurt the most, his head, his chest, his right leg, or any other part of his body. Danny Williams had been to enough famous and infamous New Jersey parties to tell that the one he'd obviously been at was either a very good one or a very bad one.

The beeping was still there; God, how he hated that stupid sound. Danny frowned slightly, his mind sluggishly starting to work. Since when did his alarm clock wake him with some damn beeps? He preferred to be woken by music; it had taken him days to find a radio station on this hellhole of an island that didn't play fancy ukulele noise but some good old rock music.

Danny took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain in his chest and the dull throbbing in his head. He could live with the headache but his lungs were burning like hell, it felt as if he had tried to finish that stupid Ironman competition in less than 8 hours. Licking his dry lips, Danny swallowed a few times against the furry feeling in his mouth, while slowly opening his eyes. He grimaced when the bright light caused another spike of pain in his head.

Tiredly he focused his gaze on the white ceiling above him until he finally came to the conclusion that this was definitely not his little apartment. With the rhythmic beeping continuing in his ears, he cautiously turned his head toward the sound. Danny's brain still wasn't working properly, he needed almost a full minute to comprehend what he was seeing.

A heart monitor, great. Danny sighed quietly, he hated being in a hospital so much, especially when he had absolutely no idea why he was here. He didn't know what time it was or how long he had been lying here. Danny watched dazedly the green figures on the screen, blinking slowly as he tried to remember what had happened, but his mind was only a murky pool of thoughts and feelings.

He didn't remember waking up the evening before or the havoc and chaos that brief trip to consciousness had caused. Getting no response from his partner had almost put Steve over the edge and the twenty minutes wait in the corridor in front of Danny's room, while the doctor checked on the change in condition, clearly hadn't helped his sanity. Even after the doctor assured him that everything was alright and Danny was finally on the way to recovery, Steve plainly refused to leave the hospital. Danny was totally oblivious to all the shouting, demanding and, last but not least, begging on McGarrett's part until finally the doctor reluctantly allowed him to spend the night at Danny's bedside.

Danny swallowed again, trying to get rid of that ugly dry feeling inside his mouth; his gaze fell on the call button that seemed to be way out of reach. He would kill for something to drink but even the thought of moving his hand was almost too much.

Apart from that he only wanted to learn why he was lying in a hospital bed before he allowed himself to get back to sleep. Turning his head away from the monitor, Danny scanned the room for any indication that might help him clear his thoughts and decipher what had happened. On the other side of the bed he found his partner, slumped in a chair, sleeping in a position that at least looked uncomfortable. McGarrett's chin was resting on his chest, his arms crossed in front of him. Frowning slightly, Danny noticed the large bandage that covered Steve's entire right arm. What had his idiotic partner done this time?

Danny took a closer look, deciding that his partner definitely looked worse than he felt, which meant a lot because Danny couldn't honestly remember if he had ever felt more wretched than right now. Steve's complexion was paler than usual, a sharp contrast to the dark stubble around his mouth and chin, and even while sleeping he looked dead tired. Danny wondered briefly how on earth Steve's hair could look so messy despite its shortness.

With an almost unbearable effort Danny managed to raise his hand; trying not to move the oxygen cannula under his nose, he hesitantly touched his face. Judging from the stubble on his own chin, he guessed that he'd been out for at least three days. No wonder Steve looked like hell, Danny supposed his partner had probably insisted on staying at his side the whole time.

He let his hand drop back to his side, his eyes slowly closing from exhaustion as a movement caught his fading attention. Steve stirred slightly in his chair, causing Danny to try hard to fight back the sleep, staying awake a few more moments. Danny saw McGarrett blink tiredly a few times before slowly raising his head, his gaze settling on Danny.

The two men locked eyes and for a long moment nothing happened. Then Steve jumped up from his chair, the tiredness that had surrounded him vanished within the blink of an eye as he stepped closer to the bed. "Danny?" his voice was both unsteady and joyful as he anxiously waited for any reaction. "Hey."

"Hey," Danny replied but it was more a rasping sound than a real word.

Nevertheless McGarrett's face lit up, he briefly closed his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief before he grabbed Danny's right arm and squeezed tightly. "Oh God, Danny, it's good to have you back, man. Are you alright? How do you feel? Do you need anything?"

Hearing Steve's babble and seeing the expression at his face, Danny slightly furrowed his brow. _Wow_, _must have been even worse than I thought. _He tried to ask what happened but all that came out was a croaked, "Wha…?" Danny licked his lips, blinking tiredly as he painfully cleared his throat.

Steve immediately released the grip on his arm and reached toward the bedstand, picking up a glass of water. He offered Danny the straw, smiling slightly as he saw the expression of relief spread across his partner's face.

Danny took a few sips, the cool water felt glorious and the feeling helped him to gather the tiny bit of energy he needed to stay awake a little while longer. His gratitude must have been visible since he saw the smile on Steve's face increasing as he whispered, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Steve replied placing the glass back on the bedstand. He fiddled with it a little longer than necessary, the smile slipping from his face as he swallowed heavily. He took a deep breath before hesitantly returning his gaze to the bed, pretending not to notice the scrutinizing look in Danny's eyes.

In the last few months of their partnership Danny had learned a lot about Steve McGarrett and he soon found out that the former SEAL wasn't one who would openly talk about his emotions. But Danny had quickly figured out how to read his face, which honestly hadn't been too difficult given the fact Steve wasn't very good at masking his true feelings.

Despite his exhaustion Danny took a moment to study McGarrett's face, finally coming to the conclusion that it was showing a mixture of guilt, fear and embarrassment. The dull headache wouldn't allow him to find an appropriate name for that particular face, so he decided to just ignore it for the moment, asking hoarsely with a little nod of his head, "What happened?"

Steve took a deep breath, unconsciously rubbing his left hand over his bandaged elbow, "What do you remember?"

Danny blinked slowly, slightly shaking his head as the first pieces of the puzzle finally clicked in place. "Gracie's school… Hank Philips… explosive devices…" he said hesitantly, his eyes suddenly widening in shock. "Oh no, the building was blown up? What about the other hostages…" Danny's voice trailed off as his heart started to race and he tried desperately to suck in enough air.

"God no, Danny, nobody was blown up, bomb squad was able to deactivate all the devices before Philips could set them off." Steve's hand was back on Danny's arm, squeezing gently as he threw him a worried look. "Calm down, okay? Just breathe slowly, everything is alright, do you hear me?"

Danny nodded slightly as he tried to follow the advice, concentrating only on his breathing and Steve's hand that was lying warm and heavy on his arm. A few deep breaths later had Danny's heart rate back to normal and he managed a small smile in Steve's direction.

The last of his energy spent, Danny wasn't able to stay awake any longer. He felt his eyelids drooping as he gathered the last of his strength, whispering, "Tell me later… 'm too tired to care right now…" Feeling another reassuring squeeze on his arm, Danny closed his eyes and let sleep finally claiming him.

* * *

><p>The next time Danny woke up, his headache was almost gone and the pain in his chest had reduced to a slight pressure, only noticeable when he took a particular deep breath. He felt much more alert than before, even if his mind still needed some time to adjust to his surroundings.<p>

Danny opened his eyes, groggily glancing at the white ceiling. The light that came through the window was dim, telling him that it was probably late afternoon. Over the typical hospital odor of antiseptics and illness Danny could smell something else, smiling slightly as he recognized the fragrance Kono used to wear. He had always liked the hint of fruits and wood, a discreet smell that perfectly suited the young woman.

Danny let his gaze travel around but the only other person in the room was Steve, standing in front of the window, absently looking outside, oblivious to the fact that Danny just woke up.

Staring at the silhouette of his partner, Danny struggled to arrange his scattered thoughts, trying to remember what had happened. He recalled the meager information he had gathered earlier, his hand moving unconsciously to his right thigh in an attempt to ease the dull throbbing that spread through his leg. Danny gasped involuntarily when all the memories returned in one fell swoop, an unwanted flood of feelings and thoughts, washing over him with an intensity he almost felt physically. He sat up, but the movement sent a sharp ache through his thigh, causing him to drop back onto the pillows. Closing his eyes, Danny breathed deeply through the pain, blood rushing in his ears as he tried to relax his cramped muscles.

A touch on his shoulder startled him, his eyes snapped open as he heard Steve's voice, "Whoa, easy, Danny, you alright? How do you feel?" Danny gaped at his partner who was throwing him a worried look as he adjusted the bed so that Danny was able to sit up comfortably.

"You shot me!" Danny exclaimed hoarsely, adding without really thinking the next thing that came to his confused mind. "How do you think I feel?" he snapped.

Steve's hand dropped from Danny's shoulder as if he'd been burnt, involuntarily taking a step back from the bed. Both men stared at each other, so many different emotions clearly written all over their faces, Steve's showing mainly guilt while anger and fear fought for dominance on Danny's face.

"God, Danny, I'm so sorry, I… I didn't mean… I… you…" Steve stammered as he sank in the chair next to Danny's bedside. He ran his left hand over his face, closing his eyes to avoid Danny's glare.

"Steven, please, could you speak in complete sentences?" Danny asked impatiently, his voice laced with anger and exhaustion. "Your stammering is not really helping here. Just… just tell me what happened, okay?"

Danny threw an expectant look at McGarrett but before Steve was even able to answer, Danny stopped him with a flick of his hand, "No, wait, first of all I have another question, one that should be easy to answer, even for you." He waited until Steve looked up, meeting his gaze. "If I remember correctly, that little episode at the school was on Thursday, so what day is today? Friday? Saturday?" He inhaled sharply as he saw the tormented expression on Steve's face, involuntarily raising his left hand to the stubble on his chin. "Sunday?"

"It's Monday evening," Steve whispered, his answer causing another sharp intake of breath on Danny's part.

"Monday?" Danny repeated breathlessly. "So, I've been… what? In a coma for four days?" The anger in his voice was now giving way to fear as he slowly asked, "Steve, what the hell happened?"

Not able to hold Danny's gaze any longer, McGarrett averted his eyes, staring at his intertwined hands in his lap as he finally started to give an overview of Danny's perilous condition over the last few days, risking only sporadic looks at his partner.

An awkward silence filled the room after Danny cut short Steve's explanations after only a few sentences with a poignant gesture and the words, "That's enough information, Steven, I really don't need to know exactly how bone marrow cells are clogging the blood vessels in my brain and lungs." Danny felt a small shiver run down his spine. "That's kind of disgusting."

"Danny, you…" Steve swallowed heavily, forcing the words past the lump in his throat. "You've got to believe me, I never…" But again he was interrupted by a sharp gesture as Danny pressed the next words through clenched teeth.

"Would you please shut up? Just give me a few minutes to clear my head, okay?" Danny felt a pressure building up in his chest, knowing that he would not be able to keep his voice level if Steve said even one more word. He didn't want to yell but right now he was too agitated to trust his voice any longer, so he just pressed his lips together, trying to sort out his feelings.

He saw Steve's eyes resting on him for a few more heartbeats until McGarrett finally lowered his gaze, leaning forward in his chair, staring at the floor between his feet. Danny watched as Steve rested his elbows on his knees, noticing how he avoided putting too much pressure to his right, bandaged arm.

Danny took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut as let his head drop back onto the pillow. He didn't really know what he was feeling at the moment; sure, he was angry but he assumed that the anger was only masking what he actually felt, because if he was honest, more than everything he was simply scared right now, scared that he had come so close to death. Danny knew that it was probably wrong to direct his anger toward his partner but then, after all, Steve had been the one who had pulled the trigger.

Why for heaven's sake had Steve done that? Why hadn't he found another, less dangerous way to resolve the situation? Damn, he was some badass SuperSEAL, he was supposed to come up with better solutions than shooting his own partner.

In the back of his mind, Danny already knew that Steve's action had probably been the only possible one to save his life, but he wasn't yet ready to accept that fact. At the moment he was still too scared about what could have possibly happened; hell, he'd almost died from a stupid little gunshot wound in his leg.

Thoughts and feelings swirled inside Danny's head, causing the headache to resurface with a dull throbbing in his temples. He raised his hands to massage the pain away when Steve's voice reached his ears. "Danny, could you just say something, please? Anything?"

Hearing those few whispered words were enough to finally put Danny over the edge and he couldn't help but vent his feelings. "What the hell were you thinking, McGarrett? Did you even think for one little second? You know, inside your head, that thing called brain… feel free to use it now and then!" With every word Danny's voice increased in volume while his hands erratically waved through the air. "Did you actually have a plan or did you just wildly fire shots, hoping to hit anything, preferably me? Did you want to prove that you are indeed completely nuts?" Staring furiously at Steve for a few more seconds, he let his hands drop down onto the sheets before taking a deep breath, stating tiredly, "Well, Steven, I honestly don't know what else to say at the moment."

Danny rubbed his hands over his eyes, the tenseness from before slowly leaving his body. He hadn't known how much the whole situation truly bothered him and the yelling definitely helped sort out his feelings.

As his memories slowly returned, he remembered not only the lunatic look in Hank Philips' eyes but what that bastard had done to poor Miranda and a wave of grief washed over him as he thought about the loss of that young life. Danny also clearly remembered the sight of the other poor guy's body in a pool of blood and how close he'd come to ending up the same way. Danny had experienced firsthand Philips' ferocity, the dull throb that shot through his left cheekbone whenever he opened his mouth was an unwelcome reminder of his encounter with Philips' weapon. He'd felt from the very moment Hank Philips had produced that butterfly knife that the whole situation would be a matter of life and death, he could still feel the sharp, cold blade against his throat.

Danny directed his gaze toward his partner, Steve seemed to have slumped down in the chair, and even if Danny couldn't see McGarrett's face he looked exhausted and powerless.

Danny tried to recall the last few moments inside the school building before the agonizing pain in his body became his main focus, remembering the look in Steve's eyes, it had not only been determination he'd seen but also fear. Danny knew in the depths of his heart that Steve would do anything to protect his team and that he didn't shy away from taking unorthodox measures if the situation requires. Danny didn't know if he would have been able to do what Steve had done if their roles had been reversed. Would he have been able to pull the trigger? He honestly doubted that he would have found the strength to shoot at his partner.

Heaving a deep sigh, Danny struggled to swallow down the last remaining anger and fear. Even if he had been the one who had been physically injured, Danny could see that right now it was Steve who desperately needed some encouragement and comfort.

Noticing a small change in McGarrett's posture, Danny noisily cleared his throat, waiting for Steve to finally look up. Their eyes met as Danny asked quietly, nodding toward Steve's bandaged elbow. "What happened to your arm? I don't remember much after I got hit and I don't think you were injured before."

Steve's gaze darted between his right arm and Danny as he straightened in his chair. "Broke my elbow when I tried to catch the remote control from Hank Philips," he answered vaguely.

Raising his eyebrows, Danny replied, "Care to elaborate your explanation a little bit?"

Steve fidgeted in the chair, delaying his answer for a few heartbeats. "After I… well, after… you know," his voice trailed off as he threw a meaningful look at Danny's right leg.

"After you shot me," Danny testily chimed in, he was no longer on the verge of yelling but his patience was still worn thin. "Just say it, Steven, it's not going to be any less true just because you refuse to speak it out loudly."

Steve swallowed forcefully, not able to meet Danny's gaze as he whispered, "After I shot you…"

"Good boy," Danny praised sarcastically, flicking his right hand. "Now on with the story."

Glaring defiantly at his partner, McGarrett continued, "Well, Hank Philips threatened to set off his explosive belt, he was about to release his grip on the remote control and all I could do was try to reach him before he dropped it."

Danny frowned as he recalled some blurry memory of Steve tackling Philips but the shock and pain he'd been in clouded his capacity to remember and he wasn't entirely sure if that had really happened. "So you did what?" Danny asked hesitantly, trying to read the expression on Steve's face. "Knocked him down while he could have blown up the whole building in the twinkling of an eye? Are you crazy?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Steve answered nonchalantly, "It worked."

"Yeah, it did," Danny sighed, rolling his eyes at so much blind faith. Again he nodded towards Steve's arm, "I still don't get how you managed to break your elbow. And if it's really broken, why don't you have a cast?"

"When I went for the remote control, Philips and I crashed to the ground and unfortunately said ground was harder than my elbow."

"No shit Sherlock," Danny muttered, gesturing Steve to continue talking.

"I got some wires to fix the bone, no big deal," Steve tried to downplay his injury. "I'm not allowed to carry things for about six weeks, but I need to move the joint regularly. So physiotherapy is scheduled and swimming will also help to regain normal functionality."

"Lucky you," Danny's voice still held a hint of sarcasm. "Now you even have a medical reason to go for your crazy early morning swims." He shifted his weight, trying to find a more comfortable position, careful to not jostle his injured leg too much.

Both men sat in silence for a few minutes, Danny let his gaze travel over Steve, who stared out the window, looking a little more relaxed and composed. He seemed to have regained some of his power, the guilt on his face no longer as obvious as before. Chewing on his lower lip, Danny pondered for a moment his next course of action but finally came to the conclusion that it would do neither of them any good to avoid the main topic any longer.

Bracing himself for whatever the next few minutes would bring, Danny took a deep breath and asked, his voice as neutral as possible, and asked, "So, if you're going to shoot me again in the next six weeks, you'll have to use your left hand?"

Steve turned his head with a jerk, locking eyes with Danny for a mere heartbeat before again lowering his gaze. "That's not funny," he whispered.

"No, it's not, Steven," Danny replied with a sigh, uncomfortably rubbing his left hand over the rough stubble on his chin; man, he really could do with a shave. He watched McGarrett pressing his palms against his eyes, bent forward in his chair, breathing deeply in and out for almost a full minute. Danny was about to raise his voice when his partner finally pulled himself together.

Squaring his shoulders, Steve straightened in the chair and settled his gaze on Danny, his eyes full of emotions, his voice low but firm. "Listen Danny, as much as I would like, I can't undo what happened." Maintaining eye contact with Danny, McGarrett clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before he continued solemnly, "What I did seemed to be the only possible way to protect you, but you have to believe me, I never intended to hurt you so badly. The plan was…"

"Oh, you did have a plan?" Danny interrupted, the words left his mouth before he was even able to fight them back. "So, what was the plan? Killing me before Philips had the opportunity?"

"No!" Steve jumped up from the chair, forcefully running his left hand through his hair as he glared down at Danny. "The plan was a clean through and through, I just wanted to remove you from the game," he explained enraged.

Furrowing his brow, Danny repeated, "Remove me… remove me from the game? What are you, my football coach?" He stared at Steve, shaking his head as he mumbled under his breath, "Well, kudos to you, McGarrett, you obviously did a pretty good job there."

Danny sighed, noticing the stony expression on Steve's face, the anguished look returning to his eyes. Swiftly waving his hand toward the chair, he said gently, "Sit back down, you freak." Danny waited for McGarrett to stiffly take a seat, taking the time to clear his thoughts before he continued, "There is one thing you should know about plans, Steven. They're great until the second you put them into action."

There were a few moments of silence until Steve replied, "You sound like a fortune cookie, you know that?" Danny could see the corners of Steve's mouth twitching slightly and without hesitation he returned the small grin. The silence that filled the room was no longer overwhelmingly depressive but now held a hint of sympathy and friendship.

"If you didn't intended to kill me, I guess you did it to save my life?" Danny asked after a while, carefully stretching his stiff limbs. "Well, I'm glad it worked."

Instead of answering straight away, Steve stood up to switch on the lights; the afternoon had turned into evening and the light from the window was almost gone. He didn't return to the chair but remained next to the door, leaning his back against the wall, his left hand protectively supporting his broken elbow. Taking a deep breath, he said hesitantly, "Listen, Danny, I don't know…"

"Hey, it's okay, I understand." Danny interrupted once more. "You have nothing more to say. It's okay."

"It's okay?" Steve asked disbelievingly, his voice now stronger, laced with a hint of anger. "It's not okay, Danny. You almost died because I shot you. How can that be okay?" He looked up to meet Danny's gaze, searching a moment for the next words. "I don't understand you. Remember the very first day we met?"

Rolling his eyes, Danny nodded his head; how could he ever forget that day?

"You were giving me shit because the bullet from that Fred Doran guy just grazed your arm, I mean, honestly, it was barely a scratch, but you ranted for hours. Hell, I still don't know if my apology was ever accepted. And now, I…" Steve swallowed heavily, "I shoot you. You almost died, and it's… okay?" He covered his eyes with his left hand, whispering, "How can that ever be okay?"

Closely watching his partner, Danny pondered a moment, trying to find the right words to express what he felt. "That thing with Doran was a stupid risk," he finally said slowly and clearly. "This time was completely different. Don't you understand, Steve? I trust you and even if I vehemently deny it if anyone ever asks, I trust your crazy Rambo instincts as well." Danny tried to catch Steve's eye but his partner still hid behind his hand. "So, if you came to the conclusion that shooting me was the only possible way out of this mess…" He shrugged his shoulders as he continued, "Well, I think I'll simply accept your decision."

Steve was still not willing to give up his defensive posture, but Danny could already see the cracks in his cocoon. He waited a few more moments until he finally noticed a slight relaxation of Steve's tense muscles.

"Look at me, you goof, and listen to another burst of my ever-lasting wisdom," Danny grinned briefly as he heard McGarrett snort quietly, waiting patiently for Steve to remove his hand and open his eyes. "Choices aren't always easy, Steven, sometimes you have to choose between two crappy alternatives." Danny sighed, running his hand through his hair. "You just did what seemed right at the moment."

"Thank you, Danny," Steve whispered, blinking rapidly against the emotions he suddenly found difficult to fight back. Hesitantly he stepped closer to Danny's bed.

Danny nodded in return, but there was one question on his mind he needed Steve to answer. "Just tell me one more thing." He pensively licked his lips, his right hand unconsciously rubbing over the wound in his thigh. "Be honest, Steve, would you do it again?"

"Yes," Steve answered earnestly and without hesitation, even if it meant he would lose Danny's trust and probably his friendship, because he knew that he would do anything to protect his partner's life. "Yes, I would," he repeated, slowly raising his head, his eyes burning, his jaw tight. He looked directly into Danny's eyes, not sure how to decipher the emotions he saw there.

McGarrett didn't know how long they stared at each other when Danny finally nodded, saying quietly, "Thank you for saving my life, Steve."

"What?" Steve rasped, clearing his throat before he continued confused. "I thought…"

"Don't think too much, McGarrett." Danny shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. "That's not good for that little brain of yours."

"But I don't understand…" Steve frowned, trying to sort out his thoughts.

"You don't really listen when I talk to you, do you?" Danny chuckled, seeing the confused expression on Steve's face. "I think I taught you that if someone saves your life, it's appropriate to say thank you." His voice took on a serious tone when he continued, "So, once again, Steven, thank you for saving my life."

Steve stared at his partner for what seemed like an eternity before he finally blinked a few times, "Uh, you're very welcome." A smile spread across his face, feeling as if someone had just lifted a heavy burden from his shoulders.

Danny also smiled, trying to stifle a yawn as he let his head sink back onto the pillow. He felt utterly exhausted, blinking tiredly when the door suddenly opened and a young, dark-haired nurse peeked inside. Her face lit up when she noticed that Danny was awake. "Detective Williams, nice to see you awake. I'll be back later to check on you." Turning toward Steve, she added friendly but firmly, "Commander, you know the rules. Visiting hours were over ten minutes ago."

Before either Danny or Steve could answer, she disappeared, the door closing silently behind her. They exchanged surprised looks but before long Danny yawned again, finding it extremely difficult to keep his eyes open.

"Danny?" He must have closed his eyes because the next thing he was aware of was Steve's hand gently squeezing his arm and his quiet voice. "I'll lower the bed so you're more comfortable." Seconds later, Danny felt the bed moving beneath him, sighing happily, he snuggled deeper into the sheets.

There was another squeeze on his arm and Steve's voice, again gentle, "Sleep tight, Danno. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Wait, Steve, before you go." Danny forced his eyes open, squinting tiredly at his partner. "I truly hope we will never ever face a situation like that again, but if…" Danny interrupted himself to make sure he had Steve's full attention. "Just make sure that you'll at least try to find a solution that is less painful, okay?"

Steve nodded, a bright smile played on his lips, "I prom…"

"Whoa, wait, don't say that!" Danny exclaimed as his eyes snapped open. He stared disbelievingly at his partner, explaining grumpily, "Don't you know that saying _'I promise'_ will bring bad luck?"

"What?" Steve asked dumbfounded, the smile slipping from his face.

"Steven, for heaven's sake, don't you ever watch a movie?" Danny asked exasperated, fighting back the tiredness long enough to clarify his point. "In movies, whenever someone says _'I promise'_ everything goes downhill from then on. _'I promise I will be back soon'_ … boom, the guy gets hit by a car. Or _'I promise you will be safe'_… next scene we see the killer approaching." Blinking tiredly, Danny gathered the last of his energy to glare at McGarrett. "So, Steven, never ever say _'I promise'_, okay?"

McGarrett shook his head, sometimes he really didn't get Danny's sense of humor, but then he wasn't so sure if Danny was really kidding or not. However he couldn't help but grin, after almost four days of waiting and worrying, it felt so good to finally hear his partner ranting again. "Isn't that a bit superstitious?" Steve asked good-humoredly, watching Danny's futile fight against sleep.

"Just… don't say it, okay?" Danny murmured with a last look at Steve before his eyes slowly closed.

"Okay, don't worry, I'll never say _'I promise'_…" Steve chuckled, not able to swallow down the next words. "I promise, Danno."

Danny managed to open one eye, glaring again at McGarrett despite his exhaustion. "You're doing this on purpose, right? Trying to drive me crazy with all your defiance and your infantile behavior." He shifted in the bed, grimacing at the pain that shot through his right leg. "You might think it's superstitious but I can prove that saying _'I promise'_ leads to disaster."

"Oh, you can prove it?" Steve asked grinning. "Go on, I'm all ears."

Sighing, Danny raised his hands to rub his eyes, not even trying to hide the huge yawn that built up inside him. Blinking away the tiredness, he asked slowly, "You remember the phone call I had with Gracie before this whole mess started?"

Steve nodded hesitantly, not really knowing where this would lead but eager to hear Danny's explanation.

"I promised Grace to practice with her for her play this weekend and look what my promise was worth…" Danny's voice trailing off, his hand waving through the air.

"You promised?" A mischievous grin spread across Steve's face. "So it's all your fault?"

Narrowing his eyes to mere slits, Danny replied smartly, "Oh no, no, no, Steven, don't try to put words in my mouth. It's definitely not my fault that you shot me."

The banter between the two men – between the two _friends_ – came almost naturally. Despite the pain and exhaustion, Danny felt completely at ease at the moment, and Steve's whole posture told him that his partner felt exactly the same way.

"Go home, Steve," Danny said yawning. "You look like you could use a few hours of sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." With a smile on his face, he finally closed his eyes, determined not to resist the urge to sleep any longer.

"I'll be here, Danno," Steve confirmed, once more squeezing Danny's arm as he added quietly. "E kala mai ia'u."

"I don't know what that means, Steven," Danny replied tiredly. "Could you either shut up or speak in a language that civilized people like me can understand?"

"It means that, contrary to your belief, I do listen when you talk. If you get someone shot, you apologize, right?" Steve couldn't help the huge smile that spread across his face, he was just so damn glad that Danny was alive. His voice was filled with so many emotions, he would never know how to express them all. "E kala mai ia'u means I'm sorry, Danny."

McGarrett looked down at his partner, who finally seemed to have succumbed to sleep. Trying to avoid any noise, he tiptoed toward the exit, cautiously pushing down the door handle.

"Your apology is accepted, Steve," Danny's whisper barely audible, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. He never saw the smile on Steve's face growing even bigger, already softly snoring when his partner left the room, silently closing the door behind him.

**THE END**


End file.
